Again, I like to know a little about who I am engaging with .. if engaging ... I grasp a little, now, about your focus ... good start. I too am an expectant of the so-called "rapture" ... it's not a good title, but it is recognized, so will deal with it as such ... Just lately, on another site, I have gleaned some information about the early "fathers" ... some of whom, did, indeed, view the so-called rapture as an awaited event. Thought this interesting, because there iw so much fluff on the internet about this subject being something that was "invented" within the last couple hundred years, by certain scriptural notables ... or by some teenager, even! Bottom line, it is scriptural, so just because the various church corporate "orgaizations" did not recognize it ... we are suppose to hold it at arms length ... I, on the other hand, hold all church "organization" at arms length, and am every so much mor happy and at peace doing so ... But I ramble ... You are "into" rapture information ... alright, I like that. But honestly, all I really know about it ... for sure ...is what Paul tells us. Anything else, I have to look at with at least some hesitation ... What say you ... ZNP ... about that stance?
Elijah was raptured, taken up in the whirlwind.
Enoch was also raptured, taken up.
Samson pushing out the pillars is referenced by Paul. The numerical value of pillars equals the numerical value of the church. It indicates the church will be taken out of the way, the pillar and base of the truth, and when that happens the temple to Dagon will collapse. (Dagon is the worship of global trade -- the collapse of the world trade center was a harbinger, warning of the coming collapse of the world's economy when the Lord takes out the church as the two pillars).
On the one hand the rapture is the calling up of the believers, on the other it is judgment falling on the earth.
1. When Samson pushed out the pillars it killed all those in the temple to Dagon. That indicates that at the same time as the rapture there will be this judgment falling.
2. When Elijah was on the mountain he called down fire, immediately after that the 450 prophets of Baal were executed and the tribulation began.
3. Adonijah is a type of the Antichrist trying to usurp the anointed one, Solomon, from being crowned king. When Solomon is crowned king all those who were with the Antichrist are exposed and flee.
4. In the book of Revelation Jesus tells the church in Philadelphia that He would keep them from the hour of trial that is to come upon the whole earth.
5. Later, when the sixth seal is opened everyone on earth knows that it is the "wrath of the Lamb". Only Jesus is known as the Lamb of God. This isn't a reference to any of the pagan gods. So how do they know based on an earthquake that this is the "wrath of the lamb"? An earthquake is not unique to Jesus. The dead being raised and the rapture taking place, that is unique to Jesus, no other religion talks about that. Every time there was a resurrection from the dead there was an earthquake.
Which raises the question, why is there a rapture? When you are dedicated to the priesthood you are separated for seven days by the door of the temple. There is a temple in the heavens. When Jesus was raised from the dead He was separated for seven days. The second time he appeared to the disciples was seven days later. Jesus was made our high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. But the description of the raptured saints standing on the sea of glass is of priests being dedicated to the Lord.
The first reference to the rapture in the Bible is in Genesis chapter 1 when God separated the waters above the firmament with those on the earth. The Bible tells us that "the waters" refer to peoples and nations. Water being taken up above the firmament is part of the water cycle and without it we would not have life on Earth.