1 Thessalonians 4:16
16 For [hoti] the Lord [kurios] himself [autos] shall
descend [katabaino]
from [apo] heaven [ouranos] with [en] a shout, [keleuma] with [en] the voice [phone] of the archangel, [archaggelos] and [kai] with [en] the trump [salpigx] of God: [theos] and [kai] the dead [nekros] in [en] Christ [Christos] shall
rise [anistemi]
first: [proton] KJV-Interlinear
16 For the Lord Himself will
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the
trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. NASB
Before speculating
about the archangel or the trumpet, we need to recognize that there are three
great events occurring in very rapid succession, in this verse.
But before we get to
the three activities, we should look briefly at the date of the Rapture.
First, the Rapture is always
imminent. It could occur at any time, and could have occurred at any time in
history, since the Feast of Pentecost.
But of course thus far, it has not yet occurred.
The general consensus is, that the Rapture will occur in the Autumn of the year. And that is based entirely on the schedule of
the Levitical Feasts that had been held throughout the year since the time of
Moses and the Exodus.
There were several
feasts held throughout the year, under the Levitical Law. The most prominent is of course the Feast of
the Passover, held in the Spring of the year (March-April), and depicts the
sacrifice of Christ on the Cross.That
event (the crucifixion), occurred exactly on schedule, even to the minute, in
accordance with the requirements of the Passover Feast.
The next feast, the
Feast of Unleavened Bread, depicts the burial of the sacrificial lamb. That too was fulfilled by the burial of
Christ.
The feast following the
Passover, and Unleavened Bread, was the Feast of the First Fruits. Three days following the crucifixion, Christ
arose, exactly on schedule as required by the mandates of that feast.
The next feast, the
Feast of Pentecost, occured fifty days following the
Passover. It celebrates the giving of the spirit. That occurred in chronological succession exactly
as it was supposed to, following the real sacrifice of Christ on the Cross.
The next feast does not
occur for several months, until the Autumn of the year. It poses a long gap
between the events of the feasts of the Spring, and the feasts of the fall. And, just as the feasts of the Spring came in
rapid succession, so too will the feasts of the Autumn occur in rapid
succession, of sorts.
The long gap represents
the historical time lapse between the Spring group of feasts and the Fall group
of feasts.
The fifth feast is the
Feast of Trumpets.Now just because our
verse mentions trumpets, don t get excited.
However, we always note that God does not ever do anything haphazardly or
spontaneously.His plan for humanity and
history is well thought out and the dates of all of these events has already
been put on the calendar of heaven.
No one knows these
dates except the Father.
Anyway, the Feast of
Trumpets is an announcement, a calling together, and has always been viewed, in
the Old Testament, for the Coming of Christ, or the Second Advent. But, since our dispensation began, that view
has changed to represent the Rapture, or the calling out of believers from our
dispensation. Why? Because the next feast is the Feast of the
Day of Atonement, the sixth feast of the year.
Today it is called Yom Kippur, and is celebrated at the end of September
or the beginning of October, of each year.
The Day of Atonement is
the celebration of the Judgment Seat of Christ, when all of the saved are
evaluated and rewarded according to their spiritual deeds, etc.
The Judgment Seat of Christ, will occur for Church Age believers immediately
after the Rapture.It will occur in
heaven while the first half of the Tribulation is occurring back on earth.
The next feast is that
of Tabernacles, celebrating the regathering of Israel for the entry into the
Kingdom of God, the Millennium.This
event is fulfilled at the end of the Tribulation after the Second Advent of
Christ.Which curiously occurs nearly
seven years after the Rapture.
Just quick point
here.Even with that almost certain
ability to predict the Second Advent, once the date of the Rapture has
occurred, people will still be unable to predict the date of the Second
Advent.Why, you ask?
Because, when the
Rapture occurs, everyone left behind will be unbelievers, and may not recognize
the event for a while, and the record of the date might get mixed up as the
world will try to play down the event.
Second, after the Rapture, the world will begin to deteriorate rapidly,
into terrible catastrophes, occurring one after another, during the next seven
years.Third, the population of the
world will be reduced by half as most of the population will die in these catastrophes. Chaos will reign. Fourth, for those who head for the hills, so
to speak, the calendar and time of day will become obscured as they hide out,
just trying to survive until the Second Advent.
People will lose track of time.
And fifth, Satan will be the only one who has kept tract of the
timeline, and he will be furiously pursuing the extermination of the human
race.Thus that seven year period will be
shortened by Christ, for His return.
Just how much shorter, we do not know.
The last celebration of
the year if the Sacred Assembly, which depicts the end of human history with
the end of the Millennium, and the beginning of eternity, wherein all believers
will be assembled for that destruction of this old universe and the creation of
the next universe.We will all get to
see just how creation occurred in the past, as we witness the creation of the
future.
Ok. The Levitical feasts serve as markers of key
points of history. Thus far God has followed them to the letter.
Does that mean that the
Rapture will occur in the Fall?No.
Trumpets is an Old
Testament celebration depicting the Second Advent of Christ. But then Pentecost was too, but it initiated
the beginning of the Church Age.
And even if it were to
occur in the Fall, we still do not know the year or even the day, because out
calendar is not exactly the same as the calendar of 2000 years ago. Our calendar has been corrected a couple of
times in past centuries, but even then, we do not know the exact year or day of
the Crucifixion, not even the birth of Jesus, for that matter. December 25 was an arbitrary date selected
centuries ago, to counter the pagan celebrations that recognized the winter
solstice.But don t let that interfere
with your Christmas celebration.
One more
quick note.In Mark we are told
that the days of the Tribulation will be shortened, but we are also told (or
those folks in that time are told), to pray that the final days of the
Tribulation do not occur in the winter, the more difficult time of the year,
and especially because the world will be in such turmoil. Cold and freezing weather will make life
extremely difficult for those who are hiding out in the mountains, and so
forth.
Mark 13:18
18 "But pray that
it may not happen in the winter. NASB
Mark 13:20
20 "And unless the
Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; NASB
Since the Lord tells us
to pray for something, it means that the final events of the Tribulation will
not occur in the winter, whether they actually remember to pray that exact
prayer or not.That leaves the spring,
summer and fall.
And even if you can
count back from the Second Advent by six years and six or eight or ten months
prior, toward the date of the Rapture, there is still lots of room for
guesswork.
In short, we cannot
predict the Rapture, nor even the Second Advent, no
matter what kind of algorithm or assumptions you can come up with.
The Spring Feasts were
dates certain.The Fall Feasts are dates
uncertain. Even with the certainty of dates and the many miracle proofs of
Jesus, the Jewish peoples still did not recognize His first advent. And yet with future dates uncertain, many
folks will recognize Christ as Lord.
The certainty of dates
is not required in order to advance in ones spiritual life.
Anyway, we finally get
back to our verse.
At some appointed year,
day, and moment, all of heaven will light up.
Three things will occur in rapid succession.
First, there will occur a shout, a commanding call as a general calls his
troops into the charge of battle.That
kind of shout.Jesus Christ will call
the entirety of heaven to order.
Second, then the voice
of the archangel (not identified), calling all of the heavenly angels together. The only archangel mentioned in the Bible is
Michael, Jude 9.The word here, archaggelos,
means chief or ruler of the angels.This
may be Michael or it may very well be another angel who has never been
identified to us.
Third, then there will be the trumpet of God, the
call to all the dead in Christ, believers who have already died during our
Church Age.Since these believers are
already in heaven, then they are assembled and accompany Christ back to earth
for the second resurrection of history.
Jesus Christ was the first.
Matt. 24:31
31 "And He will
send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His
elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. NASB
1 Cor. 15:52
52 in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the
dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. NASB
Jude 9
9 But Michael the
archangel, NASB
Now, we on this earth
have our celebrations, and we have our calls to assemble from time to time, as
in the case of war, or for various holidays.
But in heaven there is always the activity of comings and goings of
angels, of people leaving this earth and going off to heaven, of unbelievers
leaving this earth and going off to Torments, and so forth. But nothing will compare to the events of the
Rapture.
One day, and perhaps
sooner than later, people who read of these things, might somehow get the idea
that these things are very real, and that they might want to begin pursuing
their spiritual life with a ferocity of genuine desire, such that they will not
get left out of, or miss out on, the biggest events in all of history, and
their life.
This is the year 2009,
and as such we have more opportunities to advance in our spiritual lives, than
anyone who has lived before us.
The question is, who
will recognize the importance of these things, and who will actually begin to
crack down on their studies?And when?
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