1 Thessalonians 1:10
10 And [kai] to wait for [anemeno] his [autos] Son [huios] from [ek] heaven, [ouranos] whom [hos] he raised [egeiro] from [ek] the dead, [nekros] even Jesus, [Iesous] which [ho] delivered [rhoumai] us [hemas] from [apo] the wrath [orge] to come. [erchomai] KJV-Interlinear
10 and to wait for His Son from
heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who delivers us from the
wrath to come. NASB
Paul hits upon this key
subject in Thessalonians, that is the return of Christ.
He is not referring to
the Second Advent, because it is we who will accompany Him back to this earth
at His Second Advent. In order to return
with Him, we have to have already been with Him. Here is the reference to what has become known
as the doctrine of the Rapture.
More will be covered
regarding the Rapture in chapters four and five of this letter.
In short, the Rapture
is the removal of all believers from the world, thus delivering them from the wrath
to come. The wrath,
is the judgment upon humanity during the Tribulation. The Tribulation is the name given to the
seven year period which remains in the history of the dispensation of the Age
of Israel.Note that the wrath comes
after the Rapture, not before it. We believers will be removed from the world, so
that we will not be a part of that judgment period.
In the dispensations of
history, the previous dispensation was the Age of Israel. Daniel listed its final calendar in his
seventy weeks prophecy.In his seventy
weeks prophecy, seventy weeks of seven year periods were left for that
dispensation, or 490 years.Since
Daniels time, only sixty-nine of those weeks (of seven years) have passed, or
483 years. The last week of seven year periods, was interrupted by our
dispensation.
The last seven years,
or called the seventieth week of years, or also called the Tribulation, remains
still in the future and will not resume until our dispensation, the Church Age,
is completed.
Our current
dispensation is also called the Age of the Bride, the Age of the Royal Family,
the Church Age.All are synonymous terms.
In his (Daniels) prophecy,
the Messiah was to come, grow up, be sacrificed, ascend to glorification in
heaven and then return to assume control and rule over the earth for a one-thousand
year period.Only the last part, the
return to rule, has not yet occurred.
Our dispensation began
after the crucifixion and our dispensation, which was the mystery dispensation
not mentioned in the Old Testament, has continued for these last 1979 years
(2009 minus 30) and counting.
The prophecies of the
Old Testament apply to the dispensations belonging to the Old Testament or
referred to in the Old Testament, including the Millennium, which was also
mentioned.The prophecies do not apply
to our dispensation, which was the mystery dispensation and therefore hidden
from revelation to history until Christ revealed it during His First Advent
ministry.
When Christ referred to
our dispensation, the Church Age, He identified it as an age of historical
trends, as a time when the nations would be made (arranged) into the footstool
for His feet.So, our dispensation is
one of historical trends, of examples, of the arrangement of the nations
readying them for the final seven year period of mans rule in this world.
The Rapture is imminent. It could happen at any time. The Thessalonians lived their daily lives
with that foremost on their minds.The
fully expected it to occur during their lifetime.
However we know now
that God has been arranging the nations into the array that they are supposed
to be in, for the resumption of the final seven years of the dispensation (the
Age of Israel) which we interrupted.
It is this doctrine,
the Rapture, which was foremost in the minds of the Thessalonians and of which
was spoken about throughout the region, as mentioned in the previous verses.
I might mention too,
that our dispensation is without prophecy except for the final event of our dispensation,
the Rapture.Since the rapture is and
always has been imminent, then no functioning prophecy could exist within our
era.Otherwise, the Rapture would be
dependent on other events.
However that does not preclude
the trends of events of history, that contribute to the arranging of the
nations and peoples, and knowledge, and the various increases that have been
mentioned elsewhere in the Bible.Trends
are non-specific events that are general in nature, such as the increases in
population, the increases in knowledge, or the formation of powers north,
south, east and west of Israel, and so forth.
The restoration of
Israel is a Millennial prophecy, not what occurred in 1948.
And these trends also
include the formation of the state of the world (economic, political, social,
etc.) as it evolves up to the point immediately prior to the Rapture.
The Rapture is a
portion of the divine plan of God the Father, who raised His Son, Jesus Christ,
and with that same promise and power, will raise all of us from the dead if we
are to die prior to the Rapture, along with those believers who will remain
alive at the time of the Rapture.
Now, these dates and
events are already set in the future.
They are certain and will occur as stated. Nothing in this world can destroy the world
or humanity and certainly no social or political program can or will change
that future date.In fact all that
occurs in history now, is driving right toward its occurrence.
Man in his arrogance
and spiritual rejection, is following Gods plan to the letter, and following
mans own destiny to his own destruction.
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