Opus 2026-325: The Mysterious Second

Does the first resurrection in Revelation have any match with the rapture in Matthew 24:30-31 and I Thessalonians 4:13ff?  That was my starting question but I soon ran into something I wasn’t expecting.  The term “second resurrection,” which I have always heard about and accepted, is not in the Bible.  I could have sworn I have had that read to me “somewhere”, as they say.

The word “resurrection” (386), both in Greek and English, only appears twice in Revelation, both in Chapter 20.  Both cases precede the word with “first”.

(Rev 20:5-6 KJV)  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

As I look at Matthew 24 I do not see any reference to the resurrection as such.  The passage that describes the gathering of the elect is,

(Mat 24:30-1 KJV)  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

It would seem that this would involve a resurrection but it does not say so.  In Thessalonians, Paul is clear in declaring the dead being raised.

(1Th 4:15 KJV)  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
(1Th 4:16 KJV)  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
(1Th 4:17 KJV)  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

That seems clear, but again this is not about a second resurrection.

We know we will be raised again.  “When” is the subject of debate.  The number is vague at best.  Rejoice in what we know and save the unknown for when you get bored.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-175: Symbolism over Reality

As I was listening to the mix of music I have on my MP3 player, it came across a song that was based on the idea of a land of unclouded days.  I’ve noticed this idea before.  I wonder what the concept is.  The first time it really hit me was when we were singing a song about how glorious it would be as Jesus returned, and there would be no clouds in the sky and all that, but it didn’t quite jive with the scripture I just been reading. 

On that bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise,
And the glory of His resurrection share;

The scripture says that Jesus will return on the clouds are in the clouds. 

(1Th 4:17 KJV)  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

(Mat 24:30 KJV)  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

It doesn’t mention clear skies. Where do we get this picture?  I don’t know but I am willing to sing the song under the category of poetic license.  

I wonder how many other symbolic images are in our mind that have nothing to do with the scripture or in fact are contra scripture.  We often hear about the images of Christmas and the horse that Paul fell off of on the way to Damascus.  Did you ever wonder if the early church used pews or individual seats?  How about folding chairs?

There is nothing wrong with warm hearted ideas but make sure that you don’t confuse them with reality.  Our heretical pseudo-brethren get it the opposite.  They take clear statements of reality such as the physical resurrection of Christ and warp it into some kind of symbolic response to a bad pizza.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-044: The Unnoticed Rapture

I just finished a book entitled MAD about Hebrews.  The MAD stands for Mid-Acts Dispensationalism.  They claim a lot of interesting ideas.  Interesting, but not historically Christian.  One of the ideas that is not specifically stated, but became clear to me by the end was that when the rapture takes place it probably will not be noticed by the world.  Why?  Because it’ll be so few people who are raptured.

If you’re not into Bible teaching at all, let me share that the rapture is the term used for a moment in history when Christ returns and “catches up” his church into the air.

(1Th 4:16-17 KJV)  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

I kind of pictured this being an exciting moment we believers, assuming I am one of them, find themselves flying through the air to meet Jesus in the clouds.  The term rapture is not used, but that’s one that we have adopted to explain it.

Since Christians argue over just about anything, one of the things they disagree on is when the rapture takes place. That involves another bit of biblical teaching called the “tribulation”.  Actually, the phrase that is continually used in the book was “the great tribulation”.  That’s the time where the antichrist rules and heaps all kinds of persecution and suffering on the world.  The MAD people claim that this only will be experienced by the Jews.  I’m not sure if there are other groups that feel that way, but they definitely do.

One of their requirements is that you believe this rapture takes place before the great tribulation.  That means that the church, or as they prefer to call it, the body of Christ, will be raptured before the suffering.  The church, the body of Christ, will be gone.  If you are into the pre-trip rapture, then you believe that Christians will not go through the suffering.

If you ever are around to copy this book long enough to read it you will find that in the process of applying MAD theology to the book of Hebrews he throws every single group of identifiable Christians under the bus and either explicitly says they’re going to hell or implies it very directly.  My old denomination is not mentioned by name, but it’s key term is used in the description of one of these heretical groups.  He even goes so far as to throw under the bus others that I thought would be part of his group.

Which comes to my point.  I’m sure you were wondering if I would ever get there.  If you’re still with me, I salute you.  If the only people that are raptured are those who fit into his theology then my theory is that there would be so few involved that no one will notice.  I had never heard of these people until my friend somehow accepted their indoctrination.  He is the only person that I have ever met that thinks this way.  He is the only person I know that has any books on the topic.  So far he sent me 11 books to read, which I have done.  None of them are published by anyone you’ve ever heard of.  This last one was one of those books that was printed on demand.  It was printed less than a week before I got it in the mail.

So how will you know if the rapture is taking place and if you were included?  I think it’s safe to say that you won’t know and you won’t be included, that is, if you accept what they have to say.  Fortunately, what they have to say often has nothing to do with the Bible, so relax.

McLean, Terence, D.  MAD about Hebrews.  Greentown, IN:  Discerning the Times Publishing Co., Inc, 2010.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-478: The Prejudice of Tradition

While contemplating the Sunday sermon, one of the things I kept running into was the way in which the pastor would use his traditional understanding in a way which did not go well with the verse he was looking at.  It came up several times.  He was going down the road of eschatology, which is rather risky when you have people around you who have read their Bible.  He was talking about the rapture and looking at Paul’s writings.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 (KJV) But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

He was explaining that the word sleep here means dead.  No problem with that but somewhere on the talking points he got off on something called “soul sleep”.  I’ve heard of this before and I recognize it is one of the two theories on what happens between death and resurrection.  Some placees in scripture seem to imply that you go directly to be in the presence of Jesus.  Other places, and this is one of them, seem to imply that we are asleep until the resurrection.  Both are legitimate ways to understand it, but he started off on talking about how this was totally wrong.  My memory might be faulty, but I think he even used the word heresy.

So this morning, I was reflecting on how our traditions often get in the way of reading the Bible.  We have the ability to read something that makes a very clear statement and then speak tradition instead of scripture.  I like to think I’m above it, but I’m not convinced of that.  I’m at least aware of the problem and seek overcome.

So this morning, as I was thinking about this, the Lord brought this to mind,

Psalm 119:105 (KJV) NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

And as I contemplated that, I got to thinking about how the scripture is there to give us direction, to show us where to put our feet, to give us an insight and do which path to follow.  That’s all good standard stuff.

Then I realized that although the lamp will tell us where to put our feet, it might not tell us what the landscape around us looks like  . We’re so used to powerful flashlights that put out thousands of lumens.  Put yourself back in the day of flickering oil lamps.  You didn’t even have the glass chimneys to keep the flame steady.  If you heard a rustling in a dark corner of the room at home, you might have to get up and walk over to see what it was even if you had a lamp.

It occurred to me as we go through life that God will show us what our next step will be.  He will show us which is the right direction, the path. that does not mean that He’s going to light up the distant hills on our left and our right.  It doesn’t mean He’s going to make us able to penetrate the forest that is grown up next to the road.  What He does is guarantee to help us know truth or falsehood as we head straight and narrow.

Our problem usually is not that we don’t have light, but that we don’t use the light we have.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-082: Poor Song Theology

Today in church we sang one of my favorite gospel songs, “When the Role Is Called up Yonder.”  I noticed something that I had never seen before.  The second verse goes,

On that bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise,
And the glory of His resurrection share;
When His chosen ones shall gather to their home beyond the skies,
And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

Sounds good until you read what the Bible has to say,

(1Th 4:16 KJV)  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
(1Th 4:17 KJV)  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Notice that the meeting will be in the clouds.

And then you have,

(Rev 1:7 KJV)  Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

Or this,

(Mat 24:30 KJV)  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

I don’t think that the song author checked the weather.  It said, “Fair to partly cloudy.”  

I still enjoy the song.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-286: The Eternal Warrantee

A lot cartoon images portray popular misconceptions about eternity, often by people who do not really believe:  playing harps in bathrobes while sitting on clouds, a long line leading to some pearly gates, Saint Peter cracking jokes behind a podium, etc.  It is good fun in memes and the comedy clubs but a problem if you want to get serious about what happens after we die.

A physical resurrection is necessary for the Christian faith.  

(1Co 15:16-17 KJV)  For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:   And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

The clearest statement of this event is in Thessalonians.  Our resurrection is tied to the return of Christ.

(1Th 4:16-17 KJV)  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

There is another reference to resurrection in the book of Revelation but that is more tied in with the final judgement.  

What got me off on this was speculating on how beautiful the sunrise would be in my resurrected body.  I believe we will have a new type of body.  It will be free of any of the handicaps of sin and natural flaws.  That means I will see things I have never enjoyed before.

One reason for the need for a new body is to contain the joy.  Have you ever been so happy you thought you were going to burst?  Picture being in the presence of the source of joy.  We need an overhaul before we can attempt it.  I can’t picture enjoying a million years sitting around saying “Hallelujah!”  In reality it will be so glorious that our present bodies would short circuit from the glory.  I don’t expect to understand it now but I will experience it then.

I hope you join me.  I will be glad to save a seat for you.

homo unius libri