The Rapture - When? (Part 2)

See The Rapture Series here

God has promised three significant, overarching ‘next events’ on His calendar for His faithful saints – people who embraced Him by faith before Christ, and we who embraced Him by faith in Christ. These three next events are:

1.   A great falling away of the unfaithful (fake believers) from among our ranks,

2.   The resurrection of deceased saints, transformation into immortality and rapture into Heaven of all saints, deceased and alive,

3.   A co-reigning on Earth for a thousand years with Jesus as global King.

Paul assures us the first event will precede the third. He clearly defines the sequence of the second event, but gives no clarity regarding its timing, neither does the rest of The Bible. As a result, opinions among believers today literally run the gamut on every aspect of each of these events.

While there is no Biblical clarity on the timing of the rapture, this is what we do know:

         a. The Bible records several historical raptures. ¹

b. Each historical rapture followed a period of intensive testing of the person(s) raptured. I imagine even Enoch was tested intensively, and thus qualified to ‘walk with The Lord’ before being raptured. Ditto for Elijah!

c. The Lord alone set the timing and parameters for testing these individuals.

d. The parameters included martyrdom for some.

e. Based on the patterned decline of faith in ancient Israel, it is apparent that God’s testing may be the strongest when faith toward Him on Earth is weakest, resulting in a major shaking and falling away of fake believers.

f. God personally selected kings of Assyria and Babylon (many decades apart) as His ‘battle axes’ to inflict punishing assaults, first on Israel (the scattered 10 northern tribes) and later on Judah (2 southern tribes) and to burn Jerusalem and tear down its temple. Captives were made slaves and carried off to Assyria (regarded as the 10 lost tribes), and also to Babylon. 

g. The Lord uses sinful people to judge sinful people. His four, strategic, preferred judgment tactics are noted in Deuteronomy 32, and are summarized in Ezekiel 14:12-23. As noted in other posts, righteous folks are caught in the judgment processes, but not for judgment sake, per se. They (we) are ‘relatively’ protected, and even blessed for their (our) righteous faithfulness. (See: Collateral Damages or Blessings? (Poem). For more on this, search this blog for ‘collateral damages’.)

As you ponder the recorded, historical raptures, ask this question:

Did those who were raptured likely know in advance

the actual timing of their rapture?

I believe only Jesus knew the timing of His ascension into Heaven.

The above points reveal a relatively clear strategic pattern that God has applied to historical raptures, and to the fall of Judah/Jerusalem, as recorded in The Bible. Given the numerous parallelisms between ancient Israel and The Church, writ large, this same strategic pattern may well apply to The Church, namely:

(a) More than just one future rapture! All past and future raptures, except the last one, are defined as ‘the first resurrection’, or the resurrection to eternal life. Don’t get caught in the deception of perceiving the word, first, numerically! Just like we don’t get caught up in perceiving the word, One (as in God is One), numerically, like Jews and Muslims do. There are broad sets of definitions for both of these words. Look them up in a quality dictionary! 

(b) Each preceded by a period of intense personal/corporate testing.

(c) God alone establishing the timing and parameters of our tests.

(d) Strongest testing when our individual/corporate faith is weakest.

There are considerable strategic benefits in not revealing the specific timing of raptures, past and future. Principle among these benefits is the test of whether/how professed believers will remain faithful and ready. In a parable, Jesus spoke of a slothful servant who believed his master might not return soon, so he was caught undone, and was severely punished. ² 

So very sadly, the deceptive teaching, ‘once saved, always saved’, has wreaked havoc across many Christian communities. And it has caused folks to let down their ‘rapture watch’! They fail to understand the significance of Isaiah 13:10 & 13, about the strategic, ‘drip, drip’ manner in which The Lord shares with humanity, from His unlimited storehouses of knowledge, wisdom and understanding about EVERYTHING, not only, but especially spiritual things! Ergo, it is crucial to pay utmost attention to His latter shared insights, in general, and especially what He personally revealed about spiritual LUKEWARMNESS in Revelation 3:14-22!!! 

**Similarly, could it be today’s slothful servants who are so concerned about the timing of the rapture??**

As I pondered this question, it became even more clear that a far better question to be concerned about is:

…The Millennial Reign – what, how, where, who,

my likely roles, etc.? 

And what can I do now to enhance

my eternal reward(s)?? ³

Tell me...

--Would a football team likely win the game if its consistent focus was on the next yard line to capture?

--Would a small, rural farmer plow a straight row with a plow hitched to an animal if he kept his eye on the plow shovel below?

--Would a business owner ever become successful if he focused only on the next customer?

Lesson: The best and perhaps only way to please Father God is to keep our eye on His next, biggest, longest event prize or goal ahead for us – The Millennial Reign and our co-reign with Jesus over all the tribulation surviving world and over all offspring who will be born during that, the 5th age of humanity on this current version of Earth. At that time, we will be immortal. Mortals over whom we will co-reign, will be the toughest, roughest, meanest humans ever, because they will have not only experienced God’s most punishing blows ever on humans, but will have survived! (See: The Worst of the Worst (Poem)) Thankfully, their life spans will dwarf the lifespans of their descendants born during that age. 

The Bible has a wealth of clues for us to ponder and imagine about this awesome, pending era on Earth, and I explore many across this blog. Keeping our eye on this goal is our best preparation to pass all tests, and to be raptured whenever God says, ‘Let’s go!... Come up hither!'

Are you aware the Bible predicts several more raptures, not just one?

See: Bible Raptures (Q&A)

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¹ See: Bible Raptures (Q&A)

² See: Matthew 24:45-51

³ See: The 4th DoA (Poem, Part 6 - Millennial Job Description)

here

The Rapture - When? (Part 1)

See The Rapture Series here

The Lord God has promised three significant, overarching ‘next events’ on His calendar for His faithful saints – people who embraced Him by faith before Christ, and we who embraced Him by faith in Christ. These three next events are:

1.   A great falling away of the unfaithful from among our ranks ¹

2.   The resurrection of deceased saints, and rapture into Heaven of all saints, deceased and alive (for 7 earth-years)

3.   A co-reigning on Earth for a thousand years with Jesus as global King

Opinions among believers today literally run the gamut on every aspect of these events, including whether they are to be understood as literal or figurative events, and whether they may have either happened already, or may be happening now. Literally, all over the map! The Bible is written in a way that supports a wide range of interpretations of these events, depending upon how one isolates and packages relevant verses. Nothing new there, right?

So answering the question of when the rapture will occur should not be approached with the typical mindset. Rather, I believe a completely different perspective is warranted, even demanded. Please hear me out.

Earth – Our Proving Ground

In many respects, Earth is indeed The Lord’s testing or proving ground for each person, society (sub- and general), nation and for humanity, in general, and He has clear, excellent reasons for such. (Genesis 22:1, Jeremiah 17:10, Zechariah 13:9. See: The Anti-Christ (Series), especially Part 5) Consider the historical context. He created a huge host of angels in Heaven, and endowed them with the power of choice/free-will. One-third exercised their choice to rebel. They launched a rebellion, were defeated, and were cast out of Heaven onto Earth. Their leader, satan, pridefully wanted to replace The Lord, Whom Father God had delegated authority over ALL things. Imagine that!

The timing of this event relative to the creation of man is debatable. However, it is clear that satan’s rebellious nature was displayed in Eden, tempting Eve, and convincing Adam to disobey The Lord. I presume the creation of Adam in The Lord’s  image, and to be god over the Earth likely occurred right under satan's spiritual nose, so to speak. Talk about sparking jealousy! This event set the stage for him to wrestle away from Adam exactly what he (satan) wanted, but was denied in Heaven - godship, to be worshiped and adored. Deceiving Eve was the bait, and Adam bit it, ‘hook, line and stinker’, turning life on Earth into a stinking mess. Adam’s children, which we all are, became sinful beings by nature. In Their foreknowledge, Father God and The Lord Jesus had pre-determined to apply a framework of tests to humans, His highest created beings (See: Psalm 8:5 AMP & Young's Literal translations), before allowing us an eternal home in Their Heaven. In this manner, Heaven would never again be the host of rebels and their rebellion. Smart move! Since any tests require clear options from which to choose, humans are apparently allowed three options to the question:

Whom will you choose as your god,
to whom you will be loyal?

The clear options are God Almighty, satan the rebel, or yourself. Our answer is revealed over the course of our life in the nature of decisions we make and actions we take on a wide range of life matters. Since The Lord is The Just Judge Potentate of everything, He allows us ample opportunities to express our choice before departing this life, with the exception of aborted babies and possibly people who depart prior to what The Bible refers to as ‘an age of accountability’.  ² 

An often typical, human answer to the above question is played out in the patterned life of ancient Israel, dating from Abraham to the fall of Israel and Judah (the split tribes of ancient Israel). Over the period of several millennia, generations and individuals were iteratively tested to weed out and punish the unfaithful. By the fall of Judah (with the third Babylonian invasion), the level of faith toward God was minimal.

The perceptive reader will understand this exact same pattern is playing out in The Church, writ large, since Pentecost. Jesus even signifies this in His last (7^th) letter to the churches in Asia – the letter to the church at Laodicea. ³ Some Bible scholars intuit these churches not only represented actual first century churches, but also represent ages or stages The Church would transit before Christ’s return. The seventh letter describes a condition that is parallel to the condition of faith in Judah prior to Nebuchadnezzar’s authorized third, final assault on Judah and Jerusalem (one in which he did not personally engage). That’s when his captain destroyed Solomon’s temple, and took back to Babylon additional items of wealth and more Jewish captives as slaves. He likely took captives to Babylon during each of his assaults, each time leaving life in Judah and Jerusalem more precarious. During the third siege on Jerusalem, some people cannibalized their children in the face of starvation. This was The Lord’s specific, predicted punishment in response to their practice of sacrificing babies to idol gods, as surrounding pagan nations did.

How does this relate to the likely timing of the Church's rapture? 

See Part 2

Are you aware the Bible predicts several more raptures

of the living and the dead,

not just one?

See: Bible Raptures (Q&A)

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¹ See: 2 Thessalonians 2:2-3

² The age of accountability is believed to be the age at which a child is spiritually accountable to understand good from evil, and therefore be responsible for his/her words and actions. See: What is the age of accountability? Also see: Children in the Rapture? (Poem)

³ See: Revelation 3:14-22

A People, Un-walled (Poem, Part 3)

See the series here

Walls, walls…

In days past, walls were cities’ main defense.

Today, for nations, walls make little sense.

What do nations today lean on a for their defenses?

Their governments, militaries and alliances.

Though with this defense trifecta she’s now well defended,

God says, one day Israel will be ‘un-walled’, up-ended,

Open to attack by a 5-nation coalition. ¹

How in the world could Israel be in such condition?!

One day soon, upon this old God-rejecting world,

Harsh tribulation judgments from Heaven He will hurl.

In response, by intrigue, a strongman  shall arise,

And people will embrace him because …he is wise. ²

First…

Under duress, nations’ alliances then might vanish,

As people everywhere become incredibly selfish.

But as God’s harsh, punishing blows intensify,

They will agree, this man’s powers to magnify.

Second…

By deceit he will push, his powers to aggrandize.

In time, national governments he will minimize.

Into one entity, governance will coalesce, ³

In response to God’s blows, His own Earth to repossess!

Third…

With alliances things of the past,

And national governments downcast,

Now comes the biggest leg of nation’s defense trifecta:

Military control is next on this man’s agenda!!

While any power can corrupt eventually,

It’s absolute power that corrupts absolutely!

Possessed by satan, who himself is corrupt,

This man will not know, by God, he’s been one-upped!

Before this fellow meets his sudden end,

He will insist that to him all knees bend.

When to build the temple he finds the one key,

all will be awed,

‘Til into it he goes and says, ‘Worship me,

for I am God!’  ⁴

As all life is threatened beyond imagination,

Israel will experience Heaven’s segregation,

With gold, silver, livestock, and water in abundance!

To this man, Israel will be an abhorrence! ⁵

He’ll launch an attack, led by Iran,

To attack Jews in their ‘un-walled’ land.

Then at first to him it will appear,

That his success will be quick and clear. ⁶

ALAS…

To the stunning aid of His Jewish relatives,

Jesus will invade, says The Bible narratives.

Flanked by His angels, and all saints from sin absolved,

With one word, He'll kill these rascals, their flesh dissolved!!! ⁷

Ezekiel 38 describes how this war will break-out.

Zechariah 14 adds details Ezekiel leaves out. 

When it's over, folks won't believe they've been invaded by God,

So they'll launch a global effort against Him Whom they don't laud!

One word, again...

Christ’s victory will usher in His Millennial Reign,

A glorious time for Earth and man, all evil arraigned.

For a thousand years, no devils with whom to contend,

And for Israel, He will be their wall, without end.

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¹ See: Ezekiel 38. Why would it take five armies from large nations to invade Israel unless (a) the population of Israel then will have swollen beyond unimaginable limits, and/or (b) tribulation plagues will have seriously diminished the capacity and capabilities of those attacking nations, requiring a coalition of their meager remaining armies and/or (c) if by then, the nation organizing the invasion (in the far north, presumably of Israel) might be militarily weak from the tribulation plagues …or otherwise? Zechariah 10:10 affirms Israel's tribulation population will swell so large, that it will lob over into Lebanon and Jordan. Such MASSIVE, SUDDEN immigration will obviously out-strip available housing, ergo, immigrants will likely be 'un-walled!' To understand how this might develop, see: The Coming Lame Blame (Poem). See also: In the Days of These Kings (Part 3), as you ponder NATO’s declared strategy in the Russia-Ukraine war. 

² See: Daniel 7, 11:32, and Revelation 13. A final world ruler, the last anti-Christ, shall come to power via the use of intrigue, deceit and flattery. He will be fully empowered by satan, and shall perform miracles, awing all on-lookers except those who are wise.

³ ‘And in his place shall arise a vile person, to whom they will not give the honor of royalty; but he shall come in peaceably, and seize the kingdom by intrigue.’ (Daniel 7:21) After three elections between September 2019 until April 2020, Israel has been unable to elect a stable executive branch of its government.

⁴ See: 2 Thessalonians 2:2-4 and Revelation 13

⁵ See: Booty, Pre/Post Millennial Reign (Series) and also The Goshen Effect (Series). Isaiah 26:20, Ezekiel 38:12-13 and Joel 3:16 seem to confirm, 'in the mouths of 3 witnesses', that, while the rest of the world is reeling under God’s harshest ever judgment blows, Israel will be relatively protected. This may be like how the Jewish slaves were relatively protected in Goshen during the last 7 of Egypt’s pre-exodus plagues. (See: Exodus 8:23, 9:4 and 11:7) Strategically fascinating! 

⁶ In Ezekiel 38:5, the reference to Persia is to modern day Iran.

⁷ See: Zechariah 14:12 and Revelation 1:16 and 19:15. See also: The Final Nuclear-type Effects. 'Saints' referred to in Zechariah 14 are those from the time of Adam-to-the tribulation, not to be confused with post-millennial 'saints' noted in Revelation 20:9, who will be in 'mixed' second resurrection that will include saints and sinners. Jesus will consult His Book of Life to sort this vast group. See: The Goshen Effect (Poem, Part 5). To understand why Jesus will delay His intervention, see: Shields Up! Then Down (Poem) and especially Zephaniah 3:8:13.

God 101 - Who Are the Elect (Part 2)?

(See Part 1 here)

As noted in Part 1, the answer to this question is simple, but also quite challenging. Quite simply, elect as a noun means chosen, selected, preferred or spared. The challenge is to perceive accurately how this term is applied, and is to be understood across the ages and pages of The Bible. This book was written over a span of several millennia, an untold number of cultures, and against the backdrop of God’s grand, eternal, redemption strategy for humanity. Across this span, there are several nuanced meanings of this very broad term, elect, not just one.

Perhaps the best meaning of elect may well be:

A person or people in a particular age of God’s plans whom He selected, or will select, who selected, or will select Him.

Across six of the seven ages during which God is dealing with humans, I believe some people will come to know Him by faith, and will, therefore, factor in His ‘elect group’ (saints)for that age. However, there is one unique group of people to which I perceive the term, ‘elect’ applies, but who will only believe after their stark encounter with The Lord while they are alive. This I believe is the group of sinful, mortal Jews who will survive the seven-year tribulation and the Armageddon War. (See Part 1)

Discussions of the term, elect, in Christian circles may ultimately settle on two key question, about which there are many opinions:

(1) Who are the people referred to as Earth’s harvest in Revelation 14:14-16, whom Jesus will ‘spiritually reap’ from Heaven?

(2) Who are the ‘elect’ in Matthew 24:31, whom angels will ‘physically gather from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other’?

In Revelation 14:14-16, Jesus, in Heaven, personally reaps Earth’s harvest prior to the final half of the tribulation period, known as the great tribulation:

Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man [Jesus], having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.

Scholarly Bible commentators are figuratively ‘all over the map’ about who constitutes this harvest! Theories include notions that this harvest refers to:

(a) The advance spiritual slaying of all Jesus-rejecting sinners who would later be physically slain in the 1st War of Gog and Magog sometime during the great tribulation or the Armageddon War at the end of the great tribulation. This notion is very similar to the very vivid depictions in Joel 3:12-13, and especially in Ezekiel 9. (See: Mind Blowing or Opening??) But it naturally raises the question why use the word, harvest, to refer to something undesirable, and not intended to be kept? Curious. Also, this Scripture makes NO reference to ‘the elect’, so it would be erroneous to just assume it refers to the elect, as many people do.

(b) Possibly a mid-or-post-tribulation rapture and resurrection of God’s Church Age elect. This notion is discredited in that it infers a distinct overlap of the last ‘week of seven years’ in God’s declared strategic calendar for Israel, with His apparent strategic calendar for Gentiles during the Church Age. (Daniel 9:24) To my knowledge, The Bible does not support any such overlap, but seems to segregates these two calendars. This notion is further discredited in that Paul predicts The Church will be caught up (raptured), not ‘harvested with a sickle’ (1 Thessalonians 4:17) BEFORE the anti-Christ is revealed! Carefully reading through The Bible reveals many rather unique word choices that make me slow down and think, rather than assume.

(c) Possibly the resurrection and rapture of all saints martyred in the tribulation. See the references to two groups in Revelation 7 and 14: 

  (1) the 144,000 Jewish witnesses who will testify of Jesus in the tribulation,   

  (2) people, Jews and Gentiles, who presumably will come to faith as a result of these testimonies.

I believe Revelation 14:14-16 refers to item (a) above, which is the advance (pre-enacted) spiritual slaying of all Jesus-rejecting sinners who will be subsequently physically slain during the great tribulation, when the last of God’s judgments will be poured out (i.e., the 7 bowl judgments in Revelation 16). It is also possible Revelation 14 refers to Jews referred to in Zephaniah 3:12, perhaps those who will be killed in the Armageddon War at the end of the great tribulation. This view is in sync with Joel 3:12-13 and also Jeremiah 51:33. It also strategically comports with The Lord’s modus operandi in Ezekiel 9. Selah!

In Matthew 24:31, Jesus dispatches angels from Heaven to gather a targeted elect at the end of the tribulation:

Immediately after the tribulation of those days …He [Jesus] will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Please note the strategic word choice here – gather together. I do not believe this infers ‘resurrection or rapture into Heaven’, yet many Christians the world over believe, in this verse, Jesus was referring to saints from The Church Age. They conveniently ignore that fact that Jesus had a ‘double barrel’ ministry during His life on Earth. First, He physically ministered to ancient Israel, who largely rejected Him. Second, He spiritually ministered to all who would come to faith in Him during The Church Age. He laid the foundations for our faith. Our failure to ‘rightly divide The Word of Truth’, as Paul admonishes us to do in 2 Timothy 2:15, results in erroneous interpretations of The Word, in general, and The Gospels, in particular. ¹

I believe this gathering action in the above verse may represent either (1) the advance, spiritual election of ALL sinful Jews who will have survived both the tribulation and the Armageddon War, (2) their physical gathering into the land of Israel, or (3) both. These people will have designated roles and functions in a blended nation of Israel during the Millennial Reign of Christ. This rather unique group of mortal Jews will embrace Jesus as the Messiah, not by faith, but only when they see Him. (Zechariah 12:10-14) Apart from this ‘elect group’, I understand all other references to the term, elect, clearly refer to people who embrace God, by faith.

I trust this is sufficiently clear, though somewhat challenging to understand. The backdrop of this review is my search for deeper insights into God’s strategic, multi-millennial plan for the redemption of humankind, promised in Genesis 3:15 and fulfilled in The Lord Jesus Christ.

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¹ There are several core aspects of ‘dividing The Word of Truth’, including but not limited to:
A. perceiving the shifting socio-cultural times across which The Bible was written;

B. perceiving B.C. versus A.D. perspective shifts;

C. understanding what aspects apply to Israel versus The Church versus the un-saved world; and

D. perceiving the seven different ages in which God is dealing with humanity: (1) pre-flood, (2) post-flood-pre-cross, (3) post-cross (Church Age), (4) tribulation period, (5) Millennial Reign, (6) post-Millennial Reign, and (7) eternity. From each of our first six ages, The Lord is harvesting ‘saints fruits’ for our seventh age. 

Bible Raptures (Q&A)

See the Q&A Series here

See The Rapture Series here 

Q: What is the rapture? How many have there been?? How many are yet to occur?

A: These are important, yet very complex questions to address because The Bible records and predicts several pre-death and post-death rapture experiences!  Let's dig in...

The first question, what is the rapture, is a very controversial topic across the Christian world. It is one that is fraught with many misunderstandings based on misinterpretations and failure to read Scripture within context of the broad, strategic message God has for us. Following is my understanding on this topic, supported by Scripture. While the word, rapture, is not a Biblical term, both Paul and John refer to people being (a) physically caught up into Heaven, and concurrently (b) ‘materially transformed from mortal-to-immortality’.

Paul writes:

For The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet The Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

John writes:

Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him [physically], for we shall see Him as He is. (1 John 3:2)

It is obvious that they speak, not of pre-cross saints who died in saving faith, because Matthew 27:52-53 reports these saints received The Gospel message that Jesus preached in the upper, protected region of hell, referred to as the bosom of Abraham, per Ephesians 4:9-10, and were resurrected, transformed and raptured into Heaven when God received Jesus' sacrifice for sins, per Matthew 27:51-53. So Paul and John refer to people who would become post-cross saints during this current 3rd age of history. Ezekiel gives us stark insights into how Jesus, pre-incarnate, appears in His glorified, immortal body. (Ezekiel 1:27, 8:2, and 43:2) John backs this up with a post-incarnate, glorified insight. (Revelation 1:14-16) Thus, this is how we, whom God calls ‘righteous’, will soon look in our glorified, immortal bodies.

The second question, how many raptures have there been, requires a review of historical accounts of people who were transformed and raptured before or after their deaths.

The first pre-death transformation/rapture account is of Enoch, a pre-flood righteous man who walked with God for 300 years, then could not be found physically, ‘for God took him’. (Genesis 5:24) Whether he was taken to 'Abraham's bosom' or directly into Heaven is not revealed. The general understanding is that, only after Christ's sacrifice were humans admissible to Heaven. Nevertheless, God and Jesus do as They please, even making exceptions! Consider this: satan, himself, the essence of sinfulness, entered Heaven after he, as Lucifer, was expelled! (See: Job 1:6 and 2:1)

The second pre-death transformation/rapture account is of Elijah, a Jewish prophet who was physically caught up to 'heaven' in a chariot of fire, with horses of fire, in a whirlwind. (2 Kings 2:11) Again, specifically where he was taken is not specified, since throughout the Bible, 'heaven' has multiple meanings. See: How did Elijah send a letter to King Jehoram, if...

The first post-death transformation/rapture account is of Jesus being physically caught up to Heaven in a cloud. (Acts 1:9) In John’s vision on the Isle of Patmos, Christ’s ascension was framed in the broad context of God’s strategic plan for redemption. (Revelation 12:5)

The second post-death transformation/rapture account is the first group resurrection and rapture of deceased, pre-cross saints (from the 1st and 2nd ages of history) when Jesus was resurrected. ¹ 

Paul details an account of him being spiritually caught up into Heaven in a vision, but this does not equate to a physical, transformative (from mortal-to-immortal) rapture.

The third question, how many raptures are yet to occur, is not traditionally discussed in the Christian world that fixates on only one pending rapture, that of The Church. However, this question is worth serious examination. Based on Scripture, there are several raptures yet to occur! Let’s take a look, and learn, hopefully with an open mind to what The Bible both predicts and also strategically infers.

This question is best understood in light of (a) the 7 ages of history The Lord has strategically planned for humanity, and has revealed to us across the pages of the Bible (see: Human History Ages (Series), and (b) a solid understanding of the concept called 'the first resurrection' (see: For You, Which Resurrection (Poem)).

This plan includes 6 ages on the current version of Earth, followed by the 7th eternal age on a promised, new, eternal Earth. The Bible includes clear signals of various kinds, that group resurrections will be dispersed across several of the first 6 ages of history. As noted above, the first one was of all 1st and 2nd ages saints, when Jesus was resurrected. 

Key: When you think 'rapture', also think 'resurrection' since resurrections precede all group raptures.

The first prediction of a future, physical group rapture is of The Church – true (not fake, 'Christianesque') believers, both dead and alive, who, in sustaining faith, embraced God through Christ, post-cross. ² (1 Thessalonians 4:17) This will occur at the close of the current, 3rd age of history (the age of Grace, also called the church age). 

The second prediction of a future, physical group rapture is of two, unique, righteous witnesses during the tribulation period who will testify of Jesus, be killed by the global anti-Christ ruler, be resurrected back to life, and then caught up in a cloud (raptured) into Heaven. (Revelation 11:7-12) But these men are quite different, since they will pre-exist in Heaven before coming to to accomplish their tribulation ministry on Earth. These men will clearly not be included in what Revelation 20:12 infers will be the second general resurrection. They are indeed ...unique beings who will experience death, resurrection and rapture.

Beyond these two, clear predictions of future physical group resurrections and raptures, The Bible infers several additional rapture experiences.

1. The resurrection of the Church, before the 7-year tribulation period, as most Christians may believe, logically will not include the countless souls who will become righteous through faith in Jesus Christ during the tribulation age, all or many of whom will be martyred by the anti-Christ. (Revelation 7:9-17 and 13:7) This group includes:

(a) the 144,000 Jewish witnesses who will be sealed spiritually to testify of Jesus during the tribulation period (See Revelation 7:2-4, an experience similar to that in Ezekiel 9),  

(b) the multitude of people who will come to faith as a result of the testimonies of these witnesses. See: Audacious Christians (Series), especially Part 2 that addresses the question, ‘Who might comprise the majority of this incalculable multitude, per Revelation 7:9-14?’

Those who are alive will be raptured, and those who will be dead (mostly beheaded) will be resurrected and raptured -- all transformed/glorified, and will receive Millennial Kingdom assignments. (Matthew 24:29-31). Just like earlier resurrected saints, they will also be with The Lord forever. (Zechariah 14:5, 2, 1 Thessalonians 3:13, Thessalonians 1:10, and Jude 1:14)

NB: Strategically, this infers a post-tribulation, pre-Millennial Reign rapture. Also, trace the references in Revelation about the 144,000 Jewish witnesses, first noted in Heaven (chapter 7:4 being spiritually sealed/commissioned), then physically on the Mt. of Olives with Jesus (chapter 14:1, presumably during their assignments, while angels are also warning people not to accept the mark of the beast.) It appears the great multitude referenced in Revelation 7:9-17 might be the fruits of the 144,000 witnesses, i.e., people saved as a result of their witness during the great tribulation.)

2. Might there be yet a group of souls whom God might declare ‘righteous’ …during the Millennial Reign?? And if so, might they also at some point transform from mortal to immortality, and transfer into service in The Millennial Kingdom?? I know of no Bible reference on this point, but knowing the Amazing Grace of God, we cannot rule it out. 

Nevertheless, check out the important insights and issues in the series, Salvation in the Millennium? (Series), that addresses this question in light of what The Bible reveals are the basic foundations or tenets of Christian salvation. The questions discussed are whether these foundational points could be met during the Millennial Reign when the entire kingdom of satan is locked away, and is not performing its untoward functions on Earth, or whether these foundational salvation requirements could only be met after the Millennial Reign when the kingdom of satan is once again released on Earth. The latter case might have significant implications for life spans of mortals born during the Millennial Reign. It might also help to shed light on why Revelation 20 twice affirms satan (i.e., his kingdom) must/will be released again on the Earth at the end of Christ's Millennial Reign. 

3. Ready for even more?? The Bible gives two highly curious indications that sinful, mortal humans will survive the Millennial Reign, just as some will survive the great tribulation period. For what John calls ‘a little while’, the kingdom of satan, which will have been locked away (place not revealed) during Christ’s Millennial Reign, will once again be released upon Earth post-Millennial Reign to deceive mortal people, just as is happening today, and has been happening since Eden. Will some of these people resist being deceived and become righteous in God’s sight, just like today?? Again, I would not rule it out. Would you?? If souls become righteous in God’s sight during this period, it seems very safe to conclude they, too, will, at some point in time, be ‘resurrected (if dead), transformed and raptured’ into God’s eternal Kingdom, presumably completing His lengthy, multi-millennia strategy to redeem a righteous remnant from across six ages of humanity to receive His gift of eternal life. ³ These saints will be included in the grand finale rapture discussed next.

4. ...And the grand finale! Revelation 20:11-15 infers that, after the 'little while' post-Millennial Reign age is over, every remaining human being who will have ever lived will be resurrected (if dead), transformed and raptured into Heaven, to appear before Jesus as God's Judge Ultimate. This will occur after the kingdom of satan is cast into the eternal lake of fire in their immortal, non-sexual, physical bodies, very likely on the promised, new Earth! (Isaiah 66:24, Revelation 20:7-10 and 22:15) The Lord will consult His Book of [Eternal] Life to sort these people into two groups: righteous (spiritual sheep) and un-righteous (spiritual goats). The un-righteous will be cast into the lake of fire with satan and his imps, and the anti-Christ and his prophet, who will have preceded all devils by over a thousand years! Get this: ALL residents in the lake of fire, including satan and his demons, will be very ALIVE in immortal, non-sexual, very likely in recognizable, human form! ⁴ (There’ll be no orgies in hell!)

In light of the above, we may need to RETHINK the concept of ‘the first resurrection’, since each group that will be raptured includes people who will have died and, thus will need to be resurrected prior to, or as they are raptured. Ergo, I surmise ‘the first resurrection’ is clearly not be a unique, numerical event, but is simply the resurrection to eternal life. 

In conclusion, The Bible records several past rapture experiences of people alive and dead, and clearly-predicts several future individual and group raptures of people alive and dead. In the end, every human who will have been conceived will be transformed into an eternal, immortal being, and raptured into Heaven for The Lord's rewards or judgment. This is clearly an insight that is largely not taught across the Christian world, possibly for lack of interest, or the lack of deep study of God’s strategic message to humanity, The Bible.

Please diligently study both this message and the noted references in their broad contexts, and foremost in context of the declared and a revealed nature and strategic operations of The Holy Trinity. Also please pray about sharing this message, and follow The Spirit’s direction. Thank you~

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¹ Matthew  27:52-53 confirms these saints were indeed resurrected, and presumably transformed and raptured, though there's no Biblical account. This event is predicted and later confirmed in the second point of Psalm 68:18 and confirmed in Ephesians 4:8. Some believe they may have died again, like we understand Lazarus died again after Jesus raised him. The notion of people dying more than once appears to conflict with Hebrews 9:7 that affirms it is appointed to man to die once. See: Goshen Effect (Poem, Part 3). Ponder this: Matthew only records these resurrections within his personal locales. But what if these were merely a modicum of the resurrection and/or rapture of ALL from the first two ages of humanity since Adam (i.e., from pre-flood-to-pre-cross)??

² Remember, according to Matthew 27:52-53, pre-cross saints have already been resurrected, transformed and raptured. These verses only account for those saints who were buried in/around Jerusalem, but remember, some Jewish saints had migrated across the region and beyond! Jesus preached and confirmed His gospel to all who were within 'the bosom of Abraham', not just to those who had been buried in/around Jerusalem! History apparently does not record graves (of dead saints) being opened and previously dead folks walking around, so it seems safe to conclude saints who were raised outside of Jerusalem may have been raptured into Heaven. See: The Rapture - When? Part 1 and Part 2

³ I say presumably because of a reported Jewish concept that the ‘little while’ noted in Revelation 20 might constitute yet another 7,000 years of human history, effectively repeating the cycle of millennial weeks several times before the Great White Throne Judgment. wOw! Ponder how long it’s been since the event in Revelation 12:12 occurred! The Bible strategically reveals seven ‘ages’ of and for humanity: (1) pre-flood, (2) post-flood/pre-cross, (3) post-cross (Church Age), (4) tribulation period, (5) Millennial Reign, (6) post-Millennial Reign, and (7) eternity. 

⁴ See: Goshen Effect, Grand Finale (Poem, Part 5). Demons who became humans, referred to in Genesis 6:3, 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6, will join satan and other demons in the lake of fire, as immortal, non-sexual, human beings. NB: There is no indication in The Bible that demons referenced in these verses were allowed to return to their proper, spiritual/angelic form, thus, I presume they remained in human form. See also: Is This the Man? (Poem)