WHAT IS RAPTURE !!!
My Brothers & Sisters, many people get confused between "RAPTURE" and “2nd Coming of Jesus Christ”. RAPTURE is an event which supposes to happen NOW AT ANY TIME and will happen approximately 7 years before Jesus’ 2nd Coming on Earth. However in RAPTURE, He will just come up to the Skies to Take HIS Bride (The Church), to save HER from the the Wrath of God on Earth, in the period of 7 years of Tribulation of Antichrist. It looks like a Story but believe in Jesus who promised it. Below you can find Each and every Reference of Bible about this Event. Still you have the question; we are here to assist you in Yeshua Jesus Christ's name. Amen.
THE ROOTS OF WORD RAPTURE
The Rapture is a term in Christian eschatology which refers to the "being caught up" discussed in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, when the "dead in Christ" and "we who are alive and remain" will be "caught up in the clouds" to meet "the Lord".[1] The Rapture is used in at least two senses in modern traditions of Christian eschatology: in pre-tribulationist views, in which a group of people will be "left behind", and as a synonym for the final resurrection generally.[2][3][4] Etymology "Rapture" is derived from Middle French rapture, via the Medieval Latin raptura ("seizure, rape, kidnapping"), which derives from the Latin raptus ("a carrying off").[11] Greek
The Koine Greek of 1 Thessalonians 4:17 uses the verb form ἁρπαγησόμεθα (harpagisometha), which means "we shall be caught up" or "taken away", with the connotation that this is a sudden event. The dictionary form of this Greek verb is harpazō (ἁρπάζω).[12] This use is also seen in such texts as Acts 8:39, 2Corinthians 12:2-4 and Revelation 12:5. Latin
The Latin Vulgate translates the Greek ἁρπαγησόμεθα as rapiemur,[13] from the verb rapio meaning "to catch up" or "take away".[14] English Bible versions
English versions of the Bible have translated rapiemur in various ways:
The Wycliffe Bible (1395), translated from the Latin Vulgate, uses "rushed".[15]
The Tyndale New Testament (1525), the Bishop's Bible (1568), the Geneva Bible (1587) and the King James Version (1611) use "caught up".[16]
The New English Bible, translated from the Greek,[17] uses "suddenly caught up" with this footnote: "Or “snatched up.” The Greek verb ἁρπάζω implies that the action is quick or forceful, so the translation supplied the adverb “suddenly” to make this implicit notion clear." AMEN
My Brothers & Sisters, many people get confused between "RAPTURE" and “2nd Coming of Jesus Christ”. RAPTURE is an event which supposes to happen NOW AT ANY TIME and will happen approximately 7 years before Jesus’ 2nd Coming on Earth. However in RAPTURE, He will just come up to the Skies to Take HIS Bride (The Church), to save HER from the the Wrath of God on Earth, in the period of 7 years of Tribulation of Antichrist. It looks like a Story but believe in Jesus who promised it. Below you can find Each and every Reference of Bible about this Event. Still you have the question; we are here to assist you in Yeshua Jesus Christ's name. Amen.
THE ROOTS OF WORD RAPTURE
The Rapture is a term in Christian eschatology which refers to the "being caught up" discussed in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, when the "dead in Christ" and "we who are alive and remain" will be "caught up in the clouds" to meet "the Lord".[1] The Rapture is used in at least two senses in modern traditions of Christian eschatology: in pre-tribulationist views, in which a group of people will be "left behind", and as a synonym for the final resurrection generally.[2][3][4] Etymology "Rapture" is derived from Middle French rapture, via the Medieval Latin raptura ("seizure, rape, kidnapping"), which derives from the Latin raptus ("a carrying off").[11] Greek
The Koine Greek of 1 Thessalonians 4:17 uses the verb form ἁρπαγησόμεθα (harpagisometha), which means "we shall be caught up" or "taken away", with the connotation that this is a sudden event. The dictionary form of this Greek verb is harpazō (ἁρπάζω).[12] This use is also seen in such texts as Acts 8:39, 2Corinthians 12:2-4 and Revelation 12:5. Latin
The Latin Vulgate translates the Greek ἁρπαγησόμεθα as rapiemur,[13] from the verb rapio meaning "to catch up" or "take away".[14] English Bible versions
English versions of the Bible have translated rapiemur in various ways:
The Wycliffe Bible (1395), translated from the Latin Vulgate, uses "rushed".[15]
The Tyndale New Testament (1525), the Bishop's Bible (1568), the Geneva Bible (1587) and the King James Version (1611) use "caught up".[16]
The New English Bible, translated from the Greek,[17] uses "suddenly caught up" with this footnote: "Or “snatched up.” The Greek verb ἁρπάζω implies that the action is quick or forceful, so the translation supplied the adverb “suddenly” to make this implicit notion clear." AMEN
source@Wikipedia
"YESHUA JESUS is Coming Soon! RAPTURE IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN"
by Dr. David
R. Reagan
Many people believe there is nothing that can be known
about the timing of the Lord's return because Jesus said He would return like
a "thief in the night" (Matthew 24:42-44).
But Paul makes it clear in 1 Thessalonians
5:1-6 that Jesus' statement does not apply to believers: "But
you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a
thief..." He then proceeds to explain why: "for you are all
sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let
us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober." Paul is
referring, of course, to the light of the Holy Spirit who indwells all true
believers and who can enlighten us through our study of Scripture to know the
season of the Lord's return (1 John 2:27).
God's Attitude
As a matter of fact, God is obligated by His character
to warn the world of the imminent return of His Son. The reason is that Jesus
is returning in great wrath to "judge and wage
war" (Revelation 19:11), and God never pours out His wrath without
warning.
God does not wish that any should perish, but that all
should be brought to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Therefore, God always warns
before He executes His wrath. He warned the world through Noah for 120 years.
He warned Sodom and Gomorrah through Abraham. He sent Jonah to warn the pagan
city of Ninevah, and He sent Nahum to the same city 150 years later.
Likewise, God is warning the world today that His Son
is about to return. He is calling the world to repentance. The message of the
hour to unbelievers can be summed up in these words: "Flee from the
wrath that is to come by fleeing into the loving arms of Jesus now." Jesus
came the first time as an expression of God's love; He came to die for the sins
of Mankind. But when He returns, He will come in vengeance to pour out the
wrath of God on those who have rejected God's love and grace.
The soon return of Jesus also carries with it a
message for believers. Lukewarm Christians and carnal Christians are being
called to commit their lives to holiness: "The night is almost gone,
and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and
put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in
carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in
strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision
for the flesh in regard to its lusts" (Romans 13:12-14).
God's Method of Warning
God is alerting believers of the soon return of His
Son through what are called "signs of the times." These are
prophecies concerning world events that we are told to watch for, prophecies
that will identify the season of the Lord's return.
The Bible is full of these signs. There are about 500
prophecies in the Old Testament that relate to the Second Coming of the
Messiah. In the New Testament, one out of every 25 verses is concerned with the
return of Jesus.
In fact, there are so many signs that it is difficult
to grasp all of them. The best way I have found to do this is to put them in
categories:
1) The Signs of Nature — We are told to watch for earthquakes, famine,
pestilence, and signs in the heavens (see Matthew 24:7 and Luke
21:11).
This is the least respected category of signs for
several reasons. For one thing, many people simply shrug their shoulders and
say, "There have always been natural calamities, so what else is
new?" Note that Jesus says these signs will be like "birth
pangs"(Matthew 24:8) — that is, they will increase in frequency and
intensity as the time draws near for His return. In other words, there will be
more intense earthquakes and more frequent ones. That is exactly what is
happening today.
Another reason these signs are given little respect is
because most Christians are so rationalistic that they do not really believe in
the supernatural, and they therefore find it difficult to believe that God
speaks to the world through signs of nature. Yet, the Bible teaches this
principle from start to finish.
God dealt with the world's sin through a great flood
in the days of Noah (Genesis 6). He called the nation of Judah to repentance
through a terrible locust invasion (Joel 1). In like manner, He called for the
nation of Israel to repent by sending drought, wind storms, mildew, locusts,
famine and pestilence (Amos 4:6-10). The prophet Haggai pointed to a drought as
evidence that God was calling the people to get their priorities in order
(Haggai 1:10-11).
The New Testament begins with a special light in the
heavens marking the birth of the Messiah (Matthew 2:2). On the day that Jesus
was crucified, there was three hours of darkness and an earthquake (Matthew
27:45-51). And when Jesus returns, the earth will experience the greatest
earthquake in its history as every mountain is lowered, every valley is raised,
and every island is moved (Revelation 16:17-21).
God has always spoken through signs of nature, and He
continues to do so today. We had better pay close attention to them.
2) The Signs of Society — Jesus said that society will become
increasingly lawless and immoral as the time approaches for His return. In
fact, He said it would become as evil as it was in the days of Noah (Matthew
24:12,37-39).
Paul paints a chilling picture of end time society
in 2 Timothy 3:1-5. He says it will be characterized by three loves — the
love of self (Humanism), the love of money (Materialism), and the love of
pleasure (Hedonism). He then points out that the payoff of this carnal
lifestyle will be what the philosophers call Nihilism — that is, a society
wallowing in despair. Men's minds will become depraved (Romans 1:28), and
people will call evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20).
We are seeing these prophecies fulfilled before our
eyes today as we watch our society reject its Christian heritage and descend
into a hellish pit of lawlessness, immorality, and despair. Even worse, we are
exporting our nihilism around the world through our immoral and violent movies
and television programs.
3) The Spiritual Signs — There are both positive and negative spiritual
signs that we are to watch for. The negative ones include the appearance of
false christs and their cults (Matthew 24:5,11,24), the apostasy of the
professing church (2 Thessalonians 2:3), an outbreak of Satanism (1 Timothy
4:1), and the persecution of faithful Christians (Matthew 24:9).
These negative spiritual signs began to appear in the
mid-19th Century when Christian cults started forming. First came the Mormons,
then the Jehovah's Witnesses, and then a great variety of spiritualist groups
like the Church of Christ Scientists and the Unity Church.
The apostasy of the mainline Christian denominations
began in the 1920's when the German school of higher criticism invaded American
seminaries and undermined the authority of the Scriptures, teaching that the
Bible is Man's search for God rather than God's revelation to Man.
During the 1960's Satanism exploded on the American
scene and has since been exported worldwide through American movies, books, and
television programs. Dabbling in the occult has become commonplace in the form
of astrology, numerology, crystal gazing, transcendental meditation, and
channeling. The whole trend has consummated in the appearance of the New Age
Movement with its teaching that Man is God.
As society has secularized, true Christianity has come
under increasing attack. Judeo-Christian values, once the foundation of Western
Civilization, are now openly mocked, and those who still adhere to them are
castigated as "intolerant fundamentalists" by the media.
The positive spiritual signs include the proclamation
of the Gospel to the whole world (Matthew 24:14), a great outpouring of the
Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28-32), and spiritual illumination to understand prophecies
that have been "sealed up" until the end times (Daniel
12:4,9).
As with the negative signs, we are seeing these
positive signs fulfilled in our day and time. Through the use of modern
technology, the Gospel has been proclaimed throughout the world in this
Century, and the Bible has been translated into all major languages.
The great end time pouring out of the Holy Spirit that
was prophesied by the prophet Joel has also begun. Joel called
it "the latter rain" (Joel 2:23), and he said it would
occur after the Jews had returned to their land. The state of Israel was
re-established in 1948. In 1949 God anointed two ministries that would have a
worldwide impact — the ministries of Billy Graham and Oral Roberts. Then, in
the 60's, came the Charismatic Movement which prompted renewal in worship and
gave emphasis to the continuing validity of the gifts of the Spirit.
The acceleration in the understanding of Bible
prophecy began in 1970 with the publication of Hal Lindsey's book, The Late Great Planet
Earth. It seemed to open up to popular understanding many
prophecies that had been "sealed up" until the end times
(Daniel 12:4, 9). Remarkably, it became the number one best seller in the
world — with the sole exception of the Bible — for the next ten years!
4) The Signs of Technology — The book of Daniel says that there will be an
explosion of knowledge in the end times and that people will move about quickly
(Daniel 12:4). There are many Bible prophecies that cannot be understood apart
from modern technology. For example, how can the whole world look upon two
bodies lying in the streets of Jerusalem (Revelation 11:8-9)? Modern television
satellite technology makes it easy. How can the False Prophet build an image of
the Anti-Christ that appears to be alive (Revelation 13:15)? The answer, of
course, is the science of robotics. How can the False Prophet require all
people on earth to take the mark of the Anti-Christ in order to buy and sell
(Revelation 13:16-17)? It would not be possible apart from computers and
lasers.
Jesus said that the Tribulation will be so terrible
that all life on earth would cease to exist if He did not cut the period short
(Matthew 24:21-22). How could all life be threatened prior to the advent of
nuclear weapons? Another reference to nuclear power is likely contained in
Luke's statement that men in the end times will "faint from
fear" because "the powers of the heavens will be
shaken"(Luke 21:26). That certainly sounds like a reference to the
splitting of the atom.
5) The Signs of World Politics — The Bible prophesies that there will be a
certain pattern of world politics that will characterize the end time
geopolitical map.
The focus will be the re-established state of Israel
(Zechariah 12:2-3). It will be besieged by a menacing nation from
the "remote parts of the north," the nation
of "Rosh" — or modern day Russia (Ezekiel 38:2,6). There
will also be a threatening nation to the East that will be capable of sending
an army of 200 million — namely, China (Revelation
9:13-16 and Revelation 16:12-13). A third source of danger to Israel
will be the Arab nations that immediately surround it. They will covet the land
and will try to take it from the Jews (Ezekiel 35:10 and 36:2).
Another key player on the world political scene in the
end times will be a coalition of European nations that will form a
confederation centered in the area of the old Roman empire (Daniel
2:41-44, Daniel 7:7,23-24, and Revelation 17:12-13). This
confederation will serve as the political base for the rise of the Anti-Christ
and the creation of his worldwide kingdom (Daniel 7:8).
Other international political signs include wars and
rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6), civil wars (Matthew 24:7), and general
international terrorism and lawlessness (Matthew 24:12).
6) The Signs of Israel — The signs related to the state of Israel are
prolific and very important.
The most frequently repeated prophecy in the Old
Testament is the prediction that the Jewish people will be regathered from
the"four corners of the earth" in the end times (Isaiah
11:10-12). The Bible states that a consequence of this regathering will be the
re-establishment of the state of Israel (Isaiah 66:7-8). The Scriptures say
that once the Jews are back in their land, the land itself will experience a
miracle of reclamation (Isaiah 35). The desert will bloom and people will
exclaim, "This desolate land has become like the garden of
Eden" (Ezekiel 36:35).
Another end time miracle will be the revival of the
Hebrew language (Zephaniah 3:9). Most people are not aware of the fact that
when the Jews were dispersed from their land in 70 A.D., they ceased to speak
the Hebrew language. The Jews who settled in Europe developed a new language
called Yiddish — a combination of German and Hebrew. The Jews who migrated to
the Mediterranean basin created a language called Ladino — a combination of
Hebrew and Spanish.
Other significant signs of Israel that we are told to
watch for in the end times include the re-occupation of Jerusalem (Luke 21:24),
the resurgence of Israeli military strength (Zechariah 12:6), and the re-focusing
of world politics on Israel (Zechariah 12:3).
All these signs have been fulfilled in this century.
The nation has been re-established, the land has been reclaimed, the ancient
language has been revived, the Jews are back in Jerusalem, and Israel is the
focal point of world politics.
Jesus says in Luke 21:28 that when these
signs begin to happen, we should "straighten up and lift up our
heads" because "our redemption is drawing near."
The Key
Signs
The most important signs are the ones that relate to
Israel because God uses the Jews throughout the Scriptures as His prophetic
time clock. By this I mean that very often when the Lord is revealing an
important event that will take place in the future, He will point to the Jewish
people and state that when a certain thing happens to them, the important event
will also occur.
A good example of this principle can be found in
Daniel 9 in the famous "Seventy Weeks of Years" prophecy. The prophet
tells us to watch for a decree to be issued that will authorize the rebuilding
of Jerusalem. He then says that the Messiah will come sixty-nine weeks of years
(483 years) after that decree is issued to the Jewish people.
There are two key prophecies which relate the return
of Jesus to events that have occurred in Jewish history since 1948. These two
events clearly established the period in which we are now living as the season
of the Lord's return.
The State of Israel
The first is the re-establishment of the state of
Israel which occurred on May 14, 1948. Jesus singled out this event as the one
that would signal His soon return.
His prophecy is contained in the fig tree parable
(Matthew 24:32-35) which He presented in His Olivet Discourse. The day before
He delivered this speech, He had put a curse on a barren fig tree, causing it
to wither (Matthew 21:28-29). This was a symbolic prophecy that God would soon
pour out His wrath upon the Jewish people because of their spiritual barrenness
in rejecting His Son.
The next day Jesus reminded His disciples of the fig
tree. He said to watch for it to bloom again. In other words, He said watch for
the rebirth of Israel. He indicated that when the fig tree blooms again, He
would be at the gates of Heaven, ready to return (Matthew 24:33).
Equally significant, He added an interesting
observation: "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away
until all these things take place" (Matthew 24:34). What generation?
The generation that sees the fig tree blossom.
We are that generation. The fig tree has blossomed.
Jesus is at the gates.
The City of Jerusalem
The second key event was prophesied by Jesus in the
same speech, as recorded by Luke: "[The Jews] will fall by the edge
of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will
be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be
fulfilled" (Luke 21:24).
The first half of this prophecy was fulfilled in 70
A.D., forty years after Jesus spoke the words. In that year the Romans under
Titus conquered Jerusalem and dispersed the Jews among the nations. Jerusalem
remained under Gentile occupation for 1,897 years — until June 7, 1967, when
Israel won the city back during the Six Day War.
The Jewish re-occupation of the city of Jerusalem is
proof positive that we are living in the season of the Lord's return. Jesus
said it would mark the end of the Gentile Age.
A
Call to Action
There
is no way to escape the conclusion that we are living on borrowed time. The
signs of the times are upon us, and they are shouting for our attention.
Are
you ready? If Jesus were to return today, would He be your"Blessed
Hope" (Titus 2:11-14) or would He be your "Holy
Terror" (Revelation 6:12-17)? If you have never received Him as your
Lord and Savior, now is the time to act. Repent of your sins, and call upon the
name of the Lord that you might be saved (Acts 2:14-39).
And
if you are a Christian, are you living as if Jesus might return any minute?
Have you committed your life to holiness? Are you praying for the lost and
witnessing the Lord when you have an opportunity?
Are
you yearning for the Lord's return? Can you say with Paul that you are a
candidate for a "crown of righteousness" because you have
lived your life "in the love of His appearing"
(2
Timothy 4:7-8)?
RAPTURE AHEAD!!!
PREPARE YE THE WAY!!!
REPENT WHILE
THERE IS STILL ROOM! TRUST YESHUA JESUS CHRIST! LIVE HOLY
M A R A N A T H A !
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