The revealed Mystery is that, at the time of the Rapture, those who are alive and remain will be changed. In the ordinary sense, a mystery implies knowledge withheld its Scriptural significance is truth revealed.” ( Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, Vol. “In the New Testament, it denotes, not the mysterious (as with the English word), but that which being outside the range of unassisted natural apprehension, can be made known only by Divine revelation, and is made known in a manner and at a time appointed by God, and to those who are illumined by His Spirit. It was a revelation given to Paul for the Church (see Eph. Until the time of Paul, Scripture gives no indication that believers would be “caught up to meet the Lord in the air,” nor that their bodies would be “changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. Why were the Thessalonians puzzled about this relationship? Because what Paul was teaching them about the Rapture was new. “Paul writes then, not to teach the fact of resurrection, but, rather, the fact that at the Rapture, the living would not have an advantage over the dead in Christ” (Pentecost, Things to Come, p. They were not ignorant of the resurrection. The main purpose of this passage is to show the relationship between those who have died and those who are alive when this event takes place. The student should note, however, that while the passage gives us four participants, the emphasis is upon those who are alive and remain. Twice Paul uses the phrase, “we who are alive and remain” (vss.
Believers who are alive at the time of this event.This is clear by the terms “sleep in Jesus,” and “dead in Christ.” The Spirit of God places us into Christ upon the act of faith on Christ as our Savior. This is not a general resurrection of all the dead, but a particular one of believers only. Believers who have died before this event takes place.The word “Himself” is in the emphatic posiion, meaning the “same” Jesus who died and was resurrected, will begin this great event.
433).Īs one studies 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, one finds four participants. Everett Harrison says that “There can be no doubt that Paul’s language in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 requires a removal of the saints from earth at the time of the Lord’s return” (Charles Baker, Dictionary of Theology, p. The word is found thirteen times in the New Testament and almost always implies a change of location of an object (Mt. The Greek word is the word Harpagesometha which comes from the verb Harpazo meaning to snatch or catch away. Paul uses the term in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 when he declares that we “who are alive and remain shall be caught up together” to meet our coming Saviour. Thus, the term “rapture” is applied to the doctrine of the “catching up” of believers. Here it is being considered only in the latter sense, as a phase of the prophetic revelation dealing with the future of the coming of the Lord for His church.” (p. “…to seize,” “to snatch,” the word may denote an ecstasy of spirit such as the mystic aspires to enjoy, or it may refer to a removal from one place to another by forcible means. The word “rapture” is derived from the Latin word “rapere.” Baker’s Dictionary of Theology tells us that the word means: Because the word does not appear in Scripture does not discredit the word, or the truth. But it is also true of the word Trinity, yet many use the word and believe the doctrine. Some object to the word rapture because the word does not appear in any reference of Scripture. The next major event is revealed in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, and is referred to by Bible students as the Rapture of the Church. That means there are a lot of events still coming, for God will not permit His Word to remain unfulfilled. It has been said that about one fourth of the Bible contains unfulfilled prophecy.
0 kommentar(er)
