kwag_meyers said:
Then explain to me Matthew 24:40-41 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-55, please.
(Cool name, btw)
Matthew 24 was fulfilled in 70A.D. when Titus captured Jerusalem. In doing so, he fulfilled the words of Jesus when He spoke of the Temple and said "not one stone will be left atop another". Titus had determined to save the Temple at all costs, but destroying it was the only way to get the Jews out of Jerusalem. All one has to do is read through the historical accounts of that day to see the fulfillment of Matthew 24. Read Josephus' account of Jerusalem at that time. Also notice that in this passage in Matthew, Jesus referred to those who heard His voice then who would live to see that day come to pass.
One important detail to take into consideration is that Jesus starts out this discourse by prophecying exactly what Titus would do 35 years later. We aren't talking some far out future event here. This incident has already taken it's place on the pages of history. Ain't no rapture scriptures here.
We have been living in Great Tribulation for 2000 years. What you think is a future cataclysm, is actually a historical fact.
1Corinthians 15:51-55 is describing the "manifestation of the Sons of God". See Romans 8:19. This was the main subject of most of the Apostle Paul's prophecies.
The Apostle Paul said:
We shall not all sleep (die) but we shall all be changed (made alive)
This couldn't be referreing to expectant Christians awaiting their deliverance from this cruel world, otherwise Paul would not have been careful to use the word "all" twice in that statement. Paul was very careful in his choice of words, in all his writings. Paying attention to the details of what was said is important.
The whole point here is not to rescue His people from a cursed planet, but that all of creation would be set free from it's forced bondage to corruption, and delivered into the glorious liberty of the Sons of God. (Romans 8:21) Creation was subjected against it's will, in hopes of being delivered. Read it for yourselves. No mention of being raptured in any of it.
The Apostle Paul said:
In a moment. In the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump...
"In a moment" En atomos in the Greek, or by the atom, showing the extent of the change. The twinkling of an eye, if you look into the Greek, has more to do with a shift of focus than the mechanics of what happens when you blink.
I have heard preposterous statements made by people who should know what they were talking about, trying to describe how many time an eye "twinkles" every time you blink, in reference to how fast it (the rapture) happens. Wow. And to think people actually fall for this stuff.
Peter made mention to a "salvation ready to be revealed in the last day". Paul mentions this mysterious salvation by calling it "the redemption of our bodies". There is a people elected by the sovereign foreknowledge of the Father who will not taste death in this physical body, but who will put on incorruptibility and immortality and overcome physical death. And this is what all of creation is on tiptoe in anticipation of seeing. (Romans 8:19) And this is the subject matter of 1Corinthians 15:51-55.
"At the last trump"would seem to indicate that the Apostle Paul was privvy to things about the future that the Apostle John had to have revealed to him on Patmos years later. Paul mentions the sound of this trump in Thessalonians as well, where he speaks of this subject again.
And there is no mention of being raptured in any of these scriptures.
Was Lot raptured from the destruction of Sodom? No.
Was Noah raptured from the Flood? Again, no.
Was Daniel raptured from the Lion's den? No.
Were the three Hebrew children raptured from the fiery furnace? Once and for all, NO.
Then why would God change His method all at once and snatch His people out of a bad situation? It didn't happen then, and there is no sound reason to believe it will happen now. But the Father has always given His people the ability to go through something and come out the other side victorious.
And besides, for the Rapture Theory to be correct, the meek would not be able to inherit the earth. Other than that, the only scriptures that talk about anyone being removed, talk about the wicked being taken out of the way. That is, if you want to use the Bible in our discussions of this subject.
The rapture
theory as it is called, is an entirely new doctrine. It was never taught anywhere, in all of christendom until the late 1700's. And even today alot of christendom rejects it as falsehood. It may have a certain amount of popularity in the U.S., but in other parts of the world it is rejected as ludicrous fantasy with nothing in common with scripturally sound teaching.
