Timing Of The Rapture - 2 of 5

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD AND THE RAPTURE

In  I  Thessalonians  4:14-17  we  find  recorded  one of the most
frequently quoted passages concerning the Rapture.  We shall begin
with  this  passage  as  we  discuss  a fourth path that shows the
timing of the Rapture.  There we read:
 
    For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so
    them also which sleep in  Jesus will God bring with  him.
    For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we
    which are alive  and remain unto  the coming of  the Lord
    shall  not prevent them  which are asleep.   For the Lord
    himself shall descend from heaven  with a shout, with the
    voice of the archangel, and  with the trump of God:   and
    the  dead in Christ shalll rise first:  Then we which are
    alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in
    the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:  and so shall we
    ever be with the Lord.
 
The  first truth that we would look at in this passage is the fact
that   the  Rapture  will   be  a  simultaneous   event  with  the
resurrection of our  bodies.  God indicates that at  His coming He
will bring with Him  those who have fallen asleep.   Elsewhere (II
Corinthians 5:8) God teaches that to be absent from the body is to
be  present with the Lord.  When Christians die, because they were
given their  resurrected souls at the time  of their salvation, in
their souls they can go to be with Christ.  In this condition they
live and reign with Him in Heaven.
 
But at Christ's return  all these who have died, that is, who have
fallen  asleep, and  who have  been living  with Christ in Heaven,
will come  with Him,  as I  Thessalonians 4:14  teaches.  Then the
graves are to be opened and the bodies of those who have died will
be resurrected.  At  the same time the believers sho have not died
are given their  resurrected bodies.  Immediately  following this,
the  resurrected   bodies  from  the  graves,  together  with  the
believers  who  have  not  died  but who have instantaneously been
given their new bodies,  are caught up in  the air to be  with the
Lord forever.  Only the unsaved will still remain  on the earth to
face the  wrath of God, which will be poured out upon them because
of their sins.
 
But  now  we  want  to  look  more  closely  at  the fact of these
resurrected bodies.   For the Bible teaches  elsewhere the precise
time when these bodies will be resurrected.  And since, as we have
just seen,  the Rapture is  simultaneous with the  resurrection of
the bodies of the believers, the determination of the time  of the
resurrection of the bodies of the  believers will also give us the
timetable of the Rapture.
 
In  John  6  Jesus  declares  four  times that the resurrection of
believers' bodies would occur the last day.
 
    John 6:39 -- And this is the Father's will which
                 hath sent me, that of all which he
                 hath given me I should lose
                 nothing, but should raise it up
                 again at the last day.
 
    John 6:40 -- And this is the will of him that sent
                 me, that every one which seeth the Son
                 and believeth on him may have
                 everlasting life:  and I will raise
                 him up at the last day.
 
    John 6:44 -- No man can come to Me except the
                 Father which hath sent Me draw him:
                 and I will raise him up at the
                 last day.
 
    John 6:54 -- Whoso eatheth My flesh and drinketh
                 My blood hath eternal life; and I
                 will raise him up at the last day.
 
The phrase "the last day" is quite significant.  It is found  only
eight times  in the  whole Bible.   Since God  chooses words  very
carefully,  we  know  this  phrase  has  been  selected to signify
important truth.
 
Let us look at this phrase for a moment.  Four times it is used in
John 6 as we have already seen.   The other four references are as
follows:
 
    John 11:24 -- Martha saith unto Him, "I know that
                  he shall rise again in the
                  resurrection at the last day."
 
    John 12:48 -- He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth
                  not My words hath one that judgeth
                  him; the word that I have spoken,
                  the same shall judge him in the
                  last day.
 
    John 7:37 --  In the last day, that great day of
                  the feast, Jesus stood and cried,
                  saying, "If any man thirst, let
                  him come unto Me and drink."
 
    Neh. 8:18 --  Also day by day, from the first day
                  unto the last day, he read in the
                  book of the law of God.  And they
                  kept the feast seven days:  and on
                  eighth day was a solemn assembly
                  unto the manner.
 
Quickly we  see that in  John 11:24 God  is showing us that Martha
understood clearly the truth that is offered in the four verses of
John 6.  The resurrection of believers is the last day.
 
From John 12:48, the sixth verse named above, we discover that the
last day is Judgment  Day.  It is then that God  will have all the
unsaved give  account of their  sins and remove  them into Hell to
pay  for  their  sins.   Thus  we  see  that  the  resurrection of
believers,  which also is  to occur the  last day, is simultaneous
with Judgment Day.  And since we saw from  I Thessalonians 4:14-17
that  the  resurrection  of  our  bodies  is simultaneous with the
Rapture, we can therefore know from these verses that the  Rapture
is simultaneous with Judgment Day.
 
Before we  look at the remaining two references to the "last day,"
let  us  continue  our  thinking  a  bit  longer on John 12:48. If
Judgment Day is the last day, then the resurrection of the unsaved
must  also be the  last day.  For  Revelation 20:13 indicates that
the sea gave up the  dead, and death and Hades gave  up the  dead,
and all were judged and cast into the lake of fire. But if this is
so,  then the resurrection  of unbelievers is  the last day.  Then
there  must  be  one  general  resurrection  of both the saved and
unsaved  on  the  last  day.   Under  no  circumstance  are  we to
understand that  the believers are resurrected at one time and the
wicked another.
 
Clearly this is precisely what the Bible teaches.  In John 5:28-29
we read that "The hour is coming in the which all that  are in the
graves  shall  hear  his  voice  and  shall come forth."  In other
words,  everyone  will  be  resurrected  at the moment of Christ's
return.   There  will  be  no  one  left   in  the  grave.   In  I
Thessalonians 4:17 we read that the believers will hear the  shout
of the command.  John 5:28,29 shows, however, that the unbelievers
too will hear that shout.  For there our Lord declares,  "all that
are in the graves shall hear His voice."
 
John 5:29 does add that  there are two destinations for  these who
come forth  from the  tombs.  Those  who have  done good, that is,
those  who have had their  sins covered by Christ's righteousness,
will be resurrected  to life.  But those who  have done evil, that
is,  the  unsaved  who  have  not  had their sins covered, will be
resurrected to damnation in judgment.
 
As we have compared these Scriptures which speak of the "last day"
with I Thessalonians 4:14-17 and John 5:28,29,  we have discovered
that  the  Bible  is  clearly  teaching  that  the   Rapture,  the
resurrection  of believers,  the resurrection  of unbelievers, and
Judgment Day are simultaneous events at the end of time.  Isn't it
marvelous how all these verses fit together so perfectly?
 
We  have looked at siw of the  eight verses in the Bible which are
the phrase "last day."  The remaining two are:
 
    John 7:37 -- In the last day, that great day of the
                 feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying,
                 "If any man thirst, let him come unto
                 me and drink."
 
    Neh. 8:18 -- Also day by day, from the first day
                 unto the last day, he read in the book
                 of the law of God.  And they kept the
                 feast seven days; and on the eighth
                 day was a solemn assembly according
                 unto the manner.
 
We should also look  at these to make certain that we are checking
everything  that  relates  to  the  phrase  "last day."  These two
remaining references are both related to the Feast of Tabernacles.
The  fact  is,  both  speak  of  the  last  day  of  the  Feast of
Tabernacles.
 
But what does the last  day of the Feast of Tabernacles have to do
with  the  Rapture  or  Judgment  Day?   We  shall  see that it is
intimately involved with these subjects.
 
Let us  first look at the nature of  the Feast of Tabernacles.  It
was a feast commemorating two  events.  First, it looked back upon
the  sojournings of Israel in the  wilderness, and secondly it was
the time of the completion of the harvest.
 
In Leviticus 23:42,43 we read:
 
    Ye  shall  dwell  in  booths  seven  days;  all  that are
    Israelites  born  shall  dwell  in   booths:   That  your
    generations my know that I made the children of Israel to
    dwell in booths, when  I brought them out of  the land of
    Egypt:  I am the Lord your God.
 
These verses teach  that it was  a feast that  looked back on  the
wilderness  sojourn  of  Israel.   But  now  they have entered the
promised  land, the  land of  rest.  So,  too, believers today are
living in the  wilderness of this  world.  When Christ  comes, our
rest in Him  will be complete.  We are strangers and pilgrims now;
but when we receive our resurrected bodies we will be forever with
Christ  (I Thessalonians  4:17).  Therefore,  we can  see how this
Feast identifies with Christ's  return.  For it is then we receive
our resurrected bodies.  It is then our salvation is complete.  It
is then our wilderness sojourn is ended.
 
The second reason for the Feast of Tabernacles was the celebration
of the end of the harvest.
 
In Exodus 23:16 we read:
 
    and the feast of  the ingathering, which is in the end of
    the year,  when thou hast  gathered in thy  labors out of
    the field.
 
This  is  a  surprising  verse,  for  it  speaks  of  the Feast of
Ingathering, which is the same as the Feast of Tabernacles, as the
end  of the  year.  But  the Feast  of Tabernacles  was celebrated
during the seventh month (Leviticus 23:39).  And the seventh month
is many months from the end of the year.  Yet God speaks of  it as
the "end" or "going out" of the year.
 
When we see  how intimately this  feast is related  to the end  of
time,  we can  see why  God speaks  of it  as the end of the year.
Jesus  speaks  in  Matthew  13  of  His return at the harvest time
(Matthew 13:30 and 39).
 
    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."   The harvest is the
    end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
 
Since the Fest of Tabernacles is celebrating the harvest, relating
it to the end of the year,  and since Christ speaks of the end  of
the world  as a harvest time, we  can see a beautiful relationship
which exists between  the Feast of Tabernacles and  the end of the
world.   No wonder  then that  the phrase  "last day"  is found in
connection with  the resurrection of believers,  Judgment Day, and
the  Feast  of  Tabernacles.   We  can  make a chart to show these
relationships:
 
    Feast of Tabernacles                  End of World
 
    End of year                           End of time
 
    Harvest time for crops                Harvest time for
                                          mankind
 
    End of wilderness sojourn             End of wilderness
                                          sojourn for
                                          believers
 
    Last day (Exodus 23:16)               Last day
                                          (John 12:48,
                                          John 6:39,40)
 
No wonder then that in Nehemiah 8:18 and in John 7:37 God used the
phrase "last day" in connection with the Feast of Tabernacles.
 
Before we leave the Feast of Tabernacles, one other important fact
should be noted  which links the Feast og  Tabernacles to the last
day  or the end  of time.  In  the Old Testament  there were three
times during  the year  when all  the men  were required to appear
before the Lord as recorded in Exodus 23:14-17:
 
    Three times thou shalt keep  a feast unto Me in the year.
    Thou shalt keep a feast of unleavened bread:  (Thou shalt
    eat unleavened bread seven days, as I  commanded thee, in
    the time  appointed of  the month  Abib; for  in it  thou
    camest out from  Egypt; and none  shall appear before  Me
    empty:)  and the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy
    labors, which thou hast sown in the field:  and the feast
    of ingathering,  which is  in the  end of  the year, when
    thou hast gathered in thy labors out of the field.  Three
    times in the year  all they males shall appear before the
    Lord God.
 
The first feast was the Feast of Unleavened Bread that began with,
and was identified  with, the Passover.   This feast began  in the
evening of the fourteenth day of the first month  (Leviticus 23:5)
and continued  for seven days  after the fifteenth  day (Leviticus
23:6,  Deuteronomy 16:1-3)   It was  the day  that anticipated the
shedding of  Christ's blood as Passover Lamb  that would take away
the sins of the world.
 
The second was the Feast of Harvest or the "Firstfruits" or "Feast
of Weeks."   This feast  was observed  seven full  weeks from  the
morrow  after  the  Sabbath  that  is,  the  Sabbath that occurred
during  the  Passover  week  (Leviticus  23:15,16  and Deuteronomy
16:9).  Because this feast day was fifty days after  the Passover,
it was also called Pentecost.   It was a day that  anticipated the
spiritual harvest that would begin as a result of  Christ going to
the cross.
 
The third feast as  which the males had to appear  before the Lord
was  the Feast  of Tabernacles,  which was  preceded by the Day of
Atonement (the  tenth day  of the  seventh month).   The Feast  of
Tabernacles continued from the fifteenth day for eight days of the
seventh month  (Leviticus 23:27,34,39).  It was a feast day, as we
shall  see,  that  anticipated  the  completion  of the spiritural
harvest that would result  because God provided salvation  through
the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
The  awe-inspiring fact  that now  faces us  is that,  while these
feast   days   anticipated   and   pointed   to   the   historical
accomplishment of the atonement, on  the very same days the nation
of Israel  was celebrating  these feasts  God brought  to pass the
spiritual reality to  which these days pointed.  For it was on the
Passover in  A.D. 33,  while the  Jews were  keeping the Passover,
that Jesus hung on the cross as the Passover Lamb.
 
And  it was  on the  Jewish Feast  of Pentecost, the Old Testament
Feast  of  Weeks,  that  the  Holy  Spirit was poured out, and the
harvesting  of  souls  began.   It  was  at  that  time  that  the
firstfruits of  the harvest  were seen--3000 from eighteen nations
were saved (Acts 2).
 
So  we  see  that  two  of  the three most important feasts, those
specifically emphasized as times when the Jewish men  must come to
Jerusalem, were the literal times when God's program of redemption
was being  carried out.   The Jewish  Passover was  celebrated the
very day Christ, the Passover Lamb, was slain. The Jewish Feast of
firstfruits, Pentecost, was observed the very day that  God poured
out His Holy  Spirit, and the firsfruits of  the spiritual harvest
were seen.
 
But that leaves one remaining feast  day, the Feast of Tabernacles
or the Feast of Ingathering.  Surely the  Bible is suggesting that
Christ will return  in literal fulfillment of this  feast, even as
there  was  literal  identification  wtih  the other two important
feasts.
 
No wonder  then that God uses the  phrase "last day" in connection
with  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles.   The  Feast  of Tabernacles is
identified with  Christ's return, just as  the resurrection of our
bodies is, or Judgment Day is.
 
We see, therefore, that in all eight places where the phrase "last
day" is found in the Bible, it is pointing to the end of time.  It
is  pointing to  the end  of this  earth's existence,  when Christ
returns in Judgment.
 
Returning  now to I  Thessalonians 4:14-17, we  have seen that the
Rapture is simultaneous  with the resurrection of believers.  From
John 6 we saw that the resurrection of believers is the last  day.
From  John 12 and from  the "last day" references  to the Feast of
Tabernacles, we  have seen  that the  "last day"  is Judgment Day.
Moreover,  we  saw  that  these  truths  agree  precisely with the
statement  of   John  5:28,29,   which  speaks   of  one   general
resurrection at Christ's return.
 
We have thus  seen that I Thessalonians  4, when looked at  in the
light of  John 6  and the  other passages  which tell  us when the
resurrection  of  believers  will  occur,  ties  the  Rapture to a
simultaneous  time with Judgment  Day and the  end of time.  Thus,
this fourth path we have  followed agrees precisely with the three
we examined earlier.
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