The Rapture
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If what PW said was true, the following scriptures would make no sense:
" But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt" - Dan.12:2-3
"Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned." - John 5:28
Since we know that the spirit/soul goes to be in the presence of the Lord at the time of death, then it is the body that will be resurrecting, which is what the word Anastasis translated as resurrection means, i.e. to stand back up again in the body. Regarding our immortal resurrected bodies, though they are referred as spiritual, they will be tangible bodies, just like the Lord's. This is one of those words that people misinterpret thinking that spiritual means invisible, which it doesn't.
When Jesus appeared to his disciples, they were afraid because they thought he was a spirit. But to give them proof that it was he himself in the same body that he was buried in, he said, "Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have."
Believing in the bodily resurrection of Christ is paramount to salvation and when he appears, we will have tangible bodies like him. When the resurrection takes place, God will reanimate the bodies of all those who have died from the beginning of the church up until the resurrection. Albeit, they will be immortal and glorified bodies like Christ's, having heavenly characteristics i.e. supernatural abilities.
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@ PW
1 Corinthians 15:20 KJV
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
Why is Christ become the FIRSTFRUITS (plural) of them that SLEPT (past tense)? If Christ was the only one risen from the dead then he would have became the FIRSTFRUIT (singular) of them that SLEEP (present tense).
Can you explain this?
1 Corinthians 15:20 KJV
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
Why is Christ become the FIRSTFRUITS (plural) of them that SLEPT (past tense)? If Christ was the only one risen from the dead then he would have became the FIRSTFRUIT (singular) of them that SLEEP (present tense).
Can you explain this?
It's a "resurrection" but not of physical dry bones - this is a prophecy of the bringing in of the living diaspora in the 1st century AD - I posted this earlier:
A comparison between Ezekiel and Corinthians shows that Paul is virtually repeating the prophet's words and applying them to the Gentiles:
Ezekiel 37:26-27 I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
(2 Cor 6:16 KJV) And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said,I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
What is significant about Paul's use of Ezekiel here is prior to the above is the regathering of Israel under on stick - bringing the tribes together as one:
(Ezek 37:16 KJV) Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions:then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
(Ezek 37:17 KJV) And join them one to another into one stick;and they shall become one in thine hand.
Now if what Paul is stating from Ezekiel's prophecy is happening at Corinth in the 1st century AD "they shall be my people" then it must follow that the previous actions were already under way "I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen".
(Ezek 37:21 KJV) And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they begone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
And this is exactly what we find happening in James' letter:
(James 1:1 KJV) James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
Thus in the 1st century AD we have the 12 tribes being called together to be one "stick" and the Gentiles as "I will be their God, and they shall be my people" in the body of Christ.
Ezekiel 37 is one continuous prophecy of the "resurrection":
(Ezek 37:4 KJV) Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
(Ezek 37:5 KJV) Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
(Ezek 37:12 KJV) Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
In Israelite speak (or poetic/metaphoric language) being separated from God and or the land was to be dead or in the grave.
What Ezekiel is describing is bringing the living diaspora back into fellowship with him from exilic death and their graves - not a bringing up of decomposed bodies out of the ground.
A comparison between Ezekiel and Corinthians shows that Paul is virtually repeating the prophet's words and applying them to the Gentiles:
Ezekiel 37:26-27 I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
(2 Cor 6:16 KJV) And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said,I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
What is significant about Paul's use of Ezekiel here is prior to the above is the regathering of Israel under on stick - bringing the tribes together as one:
(Ezek 37:16 KJV) Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions:then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
(Ezek 37:17 KJV) And join them one to another into one stick;and they shall become one in thine hand.
Now if what Paul is stating from Ezekiel's prophecy is happening at Corinth in the 1st century AD "they shall be my people" then it must follow that the previous actions were already under way "I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen".
(Ezek 37:21 KJV) And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they begone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
And this is exactly what we find happening in James' letter:
(James 1:1 KJV) James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
Thus in the 1st century AD we have the 12 tribes being called together to be one "stick" and the Gentiles as "I will be their God, and they shall be my people" in the body of Christ.
Ezekiel 37 is one continuous prophecy of the "resurrection":
(Ezek 37:4 KJV) Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
(Ezek 37:5 KJV) Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
(Ezek 37:12 KJV) Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
In Israelite speak (or poetic/metaphoric language) being separated from God and or the land was to be dead or in the grave.
What Ezekiel is describing is bringing the living diaspora back into fellowship with him from exilic death and their graves - not a bringing up of decomposed bodies out of the ground.
I think it's two different prophecies that would take place at the same time in the future - at the resurrection of Christ. The dead rose with Christ and Judah and Joseph were made into one stick at that same time.
We know that many of the old testaments saints were raised with Christ and Ezekiel's description describes a literal resurrection of dead bodies to a T... I don't understand why you would spiritualize it away knowing that a literal resurrection of the dead happened at the resurrection of Christ.
There's too much evidence there for me to say that it was a "renewed" fellowship with God and the graves were being seperated from God. This sounds just like the futurist saying this is the Jews coming to Christ in the last seven years... Totally fabricated with absolutely no scriptural evidence to support it.
We know that many of the old testaments saints were raised with Christ and Ezekiel's description describes a literal resurrection of dead bodies to a T... I don't understand why you would spiritualize it away knowing that a literal resurrection of the dead happened at the resurrection of Christ.
There's too much evidence there for me to say that it was a "renewed" fellowship with God and the graves were being seperated from God. This sounds just like the futurist saying this is the Jews coming to Christ in the last seven years... Totally fabricated with absolutely no scriptural evidence to support it.
How can the dry bones prophecy of Ezekiel by fullfilled later than 70 AD when Jesus said ALL that was written would be fulfilled?
Luke 21:22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
And Peter states that all the prophets spoke of the days he was living in?
Acts 3:24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
Luke 21:22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
And Peter states that all the prophets spoke of the days he was living in?
Acts 3:24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
I'm guessing you guys agree that this is the destruction of earthly Jerusalem. Now keep reading in Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 8:1-2 KJV
At that time, saith the Lord , they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:
[2] And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
When Christ died the graves opened and I think Jeremiah is talking about this. I think the graves opened and the people of Israel took their bones and spread them out in the streets of Jerusalem.
I also think their dead bodies lay in the streets of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. I think they lay there for 3 days and a half and then the spirit of God entered them and they stood up on their feet. Then 40 days later they ascended up into heaven with Christ.
I also think their 3 1/2 year ministry was the ministry of Christ when he spoke the law and the prophets to the people of Israel. I also think their ministry to Israel ended when Jesus was crucified and he stopped speaking the law and the prophets to the people of Israel.
Jeremiah 8:1-2 KJV
At that time, saith the Lord , they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:
[2] And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
When Christ died the graves opened and I think Jeremiah is talking about this. I think the graves opened and the people of Israel took their bones and spread them out in the streets of Jerusalem.
I also think their dead bodies lay in the streets of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. I think they lay there for 3 days and a half and then the spirit of God entered them and they stood up on their feet. Then 40 days later they ascended up into heaven with Christ.
I also think their 3 1/2 year ministry was the ministry of Christ when he spoke the law and the prophets to the people of Israel. I also think their ministry to Israel ended when Jesus was crucified and he stopped speaking the law and the prophets to the people of Israel.
Zechariah 14?
Got that covered too - for the edumakayshun of the woody literalist:
Zechariah 14 is highly significant in regards to the river of life and the identity of the whore of Babylon.
Carrington in his book "Proof of the Gospel" stated the Eusebius "called the father of church history" says that Zechariah 14 "predicted the final siege of the people by the Romans (in 70AD), through which the whole Jewish race has become subject to their enemies"
Among the early Christian writers there has always been an understanding that Zechariah 14 predicted the parousia of Jesus in 70AD.
According to the Second Coming Bible "Theophylact and Cyril held this view."
In Hengstenburg's book "Christology of the New testament" he also states "Jerome and several others of the early "fathers" also applied Zechariah to "the captivity of the Romans."
Merril Unger a millennialist in his "Zechariah: Prophet of the Messiahs' Glory" acknowledged that Zechariah's prophecy was applicable to 70AD and this view was held by many early writers.
Adam Clarke a respected Methodist scholar and commentator said "This appears to be a prediction of that war in which Jerusalem was finally destroyed and the Jews scattered over the face of the earth."
Futurists reject the application of Zechariah because of their insistence on a woody literal interpretation.
We can see the correspondence between Zechariah and John's revelation here:
The fall and destruction of Jerusalem:
(Zec 14:2 KJV) For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
(Rev 14:8 KJV) And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Escape will happen and coming of the Lord
(Zec 14:5 KJV) And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
(Rev 18:4 KJV) And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
(Rev 14:1 KJV) And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.
There will be a time of light:
(Zec 14:6 KJV) And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
(Zec 14:7 KJV) But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
(Rev 21:23 KJV) And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
The Lord will be King and there will be no more curse:
(Zec 14:9 KJV) And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
(Rev 22:3 KJV) And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
The river of life flows from Jerusalem:
(Zec 14:8 KJV) And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
(Rev 22:1 KJV) And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
The nations will come unto Jerusalem:
(Zec 14:16 KJV) ....the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts......
(Rev 21:24 KJV) And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
(Rev 21:25 KJV) And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
(Rev 21:26 KJV) And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
The river of life has been flowing since Pentecost, not all the nations are yet are walking in the light of the heavenly Jerusalem - there is never going to be an earthly centered "holy city".
(Heb 12:18 KJV) For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
(Heb 12:22 KJV) But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
(Heb 12:26 KJV) Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
(Heb 12:27 KJV) And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
The heavenly city of God can never be shaken
Got that covered too - for the edumakayshun of the woody literalist:
Zechariah 14 is highly significant in regards to the river of life and the identity of the whore of Babylon.
Carrington in his book "Proof of the Gospel" stated the Eusebius "called the father of church history" says that Zechariah 14 "predicted the final siege of the people by the Romans (in 70AD), through which the whole Jewish race has become subject to their enemies"
Among the early Christian writers there has always been an understanding that Zechariah 14 predicted the parousia of Jesus in 70AD.
According to the Second Coming Bible "Theophylact and Cyril held this view."
In Hengstenburg's book "Christology of the New testament" he also states "Jerome and several others of the early "fathers" also applied Zechariah to "the captivity of the Romans."
Merril Unger a millennialist in his "Zechariah: Prophet of the Messiahs' Glory" acknowledged that Zechariah's prophecy was applicable to 70AD and this view was held by many early writers.
Adam Clarke a respected Methodist scholar and commentator said "This appears to be a prediction of that war in which Jerusalem was finally destroyed and the Jews scattered over the face of the earth."
Futurists reject the application of Zechariah because of their insistence on a woody literal interpretation.
We can see the correspondence between Zechariah and John's revelation here:
The fall and destruction of Jerusalem:
(Zec 14:2 KJV) For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
(Rev 14:8 KJV) And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Escape will happen and coming of the Lord
(Zec 14:5 KJV) And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
(Rev 18:4 KJV) And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
(Rev 14:1 KJV) And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.
There will be a time of light:
(Zec 14:6 KJV) And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
(Zec 14:7 KJV) But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
(Rev 21:23 KJV) And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
The Lord will be King and there will be no more curse:
(Zec 14:9 KJV) And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
(Rev 22:3 KJV) And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
The river of life flows from Jerusalem:
(Zec 14:8 KJV) And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
(Rev 22:1 KJV) And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
The nations will come unto Jerusalem:
(Zec 14:16 KJV) ....the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts......
(Rev 21:24 KJV) And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
(Rev 21:25 KJV) And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
(Rev 21:26 KJV) And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
The river of life has been flowing since Pentecost, not all the nations are yet are walking in the light of the heavenly Jerusalem - there is never going to be an earthly centered "holy city".
(Heb 12:18 KJV) For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
(Heb 12:22 KJV) But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
(Heb 12:26 KJV) Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
(Heb 12:27 KJV) And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
The heavenly city of God can never be shaken
H
"there is a good chance that most of the Fox News crew will probably be Caught Up to go to the Wedding of the Lamb in Heaven with the rest of us Wise Virgins of the Bride, prior to the Two Witnesses ever coming on the scene.:
......
You have such disrespect for the bible. Crack open a "history book" and keep telling God how he got his version wrong