RAPTURE – PART Ø
TWO COMINGS OF MESSIAH, NOT THREE
Since we’re in the season of the Fall Holy Days, Yom Kippur just ended last night at sundown, I’ll give you just a taste from Hebrews 9, where we see Yom Kippur in the New Covenant!! STUDY THE WHOLE OF CHAPTER 9! Hebrews 9:7, “But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year (on Tishri 10, Yom Kippur), not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance;” Verses 24-28, “For Messiah has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of Yahweh for us; 25not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year (on Tishri 10, Yom Kippur) with blood of another—26He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages (4,000 years from Creation), He has appeared (Messiah’s FIRST COMING TO EARTH!) to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28so Messiah was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time (MESSIAH’S SECOND COMING TO EARTH!), apart from sin, for salvation.” Notice, by NECESSITY OF SCRIPTURE, there are only two comings of Messiah. The first coming, or advent of Messiah, was to deal with sin, which Yeshua did on the Execution Stake. Yeshua’s SECOND COMING will deal with sealing our salvation for eternity, resurrected, immortal bodies, etc. There IS NO THIRD COMING OF MESSIAH. So . . . the resurrection and rapture of the saints MUST happen at the instant or very near in time to the SECOND COMING OF MESSIAH and the Judgment of the earth. I present to you that the resurrection and rapture will occur at the second coming, which will occur at a future Feast of Trumpets (to include a coronation ceremony), on a Tishri 1 soon, followed by judgment day on Yom Kippur, Tishri 10, followed by a wedding feast and celebration on that Feast of Tabernacles following judgment day, on a Tishri 15. I encourage you to study the Fall Feasts of Yahweh. It is impossible to understand the end times apart from the Fall Feasts.
The fact that the rapture IS NOT MENTIONED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT should be a clue that it is NOT SEPARATE FROM THE SECOND COMING!!
What a disgraceful misuse and abuse of Scripture in John 14:1-3, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in Yahweh, believe also in Me. 2In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again (Messiah’s SECOND COMING TO EARTH!!) and receive you to Myself (the rapture and resurrection into the air); that where I am (He’s coming to earth!!) , there (on earth) you may be also. 4And where I go you know, and the way you know.”” NOTICE, that when Yeshua spoke these words He was here on earth during His FIRST COMING, OR ADVENT! Notice also that Yeshua DID NOT SAY He would come again and then again, there is NO THIRD COMING OF MESSIAH!! So again, by the necessity of Scripture, the resurrection and rapture of the saints MUST be tied to the SECOND COMING of Messiah! Yeshua, as our betrothed husband, is in heaven NOW preparing our mansions, but He is bringing those mansions to earth with the rest of HIS KINGDOM. Do you think He would spend 2,000 years building mansions for the saints to live in for 7 years, then abandon those mansions in heaven and return to earth for the 1,000 years Millennial reign on earth? That doesn’t make sense!! The Kingdom is coming to earth!! John 14:1-3 is SECOND COMING LANGUAGE, NOT RAPTURE LANGUAGE. HEAVEN IS COMING, LITERALLY MOVING, TO EARTH! We are NOT going to spend eternity in Heaven, but on earth. Revelation 5:10, “And have made us kings and priests to our Mighty One; and we shall reign on the earth.” Study the Scriptures, not theories!!
Now that we have established a two-witness foundation for ONLY TWO COMINGS, OR ADVENTS, OF MESSIAH, let’s move on to the book of Thessalonians. The first verse that jumps off the page at me is 1 Thessalonians 1:4, “knowing, beloved brethren, your election by Yahweh.” It is settled once and for all, the saints are also the elect, not just the Hebrew peoples. We are the chosen. . . by Yahweh Himself!! In First Thessalonians, Paul seems to put second coming teaching at the end of each chapter, or thought. Look at 1 Thessalonians 1:10, “and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Yeshua who delivers us from the wrath to come.” Two very important eschatological points are made right here in the first chapter of 1 Thessalonians. Yeshua IS COMING FROM HEAVEN TO EARTH, as we learned from Yeshua Himself in John 14:1-3 and Hebrews 9. And Yeshua WILL DELIVER THE SAINTS FROM THE WRATH OF YAHWEH, OR JUDGMENT DAY. The saints will be protected from Judgment Day. But wrath and tribulation are two different things. Yeshua made is quite clear in Matthew 24 that we would suffer tribulation. He will purposely shorten the tribulation time frame for the sake of the elect, which we now know for certain is the saints of Yahweh. But we can rest assured that we will escape the wrath of Yahweh on Judgment Day! That is good news indeed!
In 1 Thessalonians 2:16, “forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins; but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost.” We see that wrath is stored up for pouring out on those who persecute Christians, here specifically it is speaking of the lost Jews who persecuted Paul and his brethren. At the end of chapter 2, we see why Paul talks of the Second Coming of Messiah; it is the Christian HOPE! “19For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Master Yeshua HaMashiach at His [second] coming? 20For you are our glory and joy.” When Yeshua returns, we not only will be crowning Him as our King, but He is bringing our rewards with Him, crowns for us!
In 1 Thessalonians 3:3-4 we see that Paul is in 100 percent agreement with Yeshua’s teaching, “that no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. 4For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know.” Affliction, suffering, and tribulation are the Christian call. Doesn’t sound much like the prosperity Gospel does it? 1 Thessalonians 3:13, “so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our Mighty One and Father at the [second] coming of our Master Yeshua Messiah with all His saints.” At the end of chapter, we find another nugget of Christian eschatology. When Yeshua touches down on the Mount of Olives, ALL THE SAINTS WILL BE WITH HIM. Some saints will have been with the Lord for up to 2,000 years, while those resurrected and raptured at the end of the 7-year tribulation will have been with Yeshua for A VERY SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME! Just enough time to fly from their home to Jerusalem, by way of Holy Spirit airlines!! Get this picture in your mind. When Yeshua returns in the air to resurrect and rapture us last days saints, think of it like this. . . He shows up at your house, floating in the air above your driveway, sitting on that great big white horse, you pop into the air and then ride off in the atmosphere straight to Jerusalem for Yeshua’s touchdown on the Mount of Olives. You will forever be with the Lord!! We are not flying off to heaven, we are flying off to Jerusalem for the King of kings coronation ceremony!!! The resurrection and rapture are a twinkling of the eye meeting point in time and space, a moment to greet the King, on His way to Jerusalem!! The trumpets will be blowing as a summoning sound to the great gathering of the saints in Jerusalem! We have a coronation ceremony to attend on Tishri 1, the Feast of Trumpets, a judgment to observe as WITNESSES on Tishri 10, the Day of Atonement, or Judgment Day, and a wedding ceremony and feast to attend during the 7 days of the Feast of Tabernacles, beginning on Tishri 15. Yeshua will be establishing His Kingdom on earth in an orderly fashion. Get in line with His word and Kingdom order. Forget that flying off to heaven theory.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 gives us more detail on this soon-coming orderly meeting, “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep [died physical death], lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14For if we believe that Yeshua died and rose again [which we do], even so Yahweh will bring with Him [at His second coming] those who sleep [in death] in Yeshua.
15For this we say to you by the word of the Master, that we who are alive and remain until the [second] coming of the Master will by no means precede those who are asleep [in physical death]. 16For the Master Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of Yahweh [on Tishri 1, the Feast of Trumpets]. And the [physically] dead in Messiah will rise first. 17Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Master in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Master. 18Therefore comfort one another with these words.” Paul lines out the order, first the physically dead saints will be resurrected, then those of us who are still alive will be raptured into the air for this great meeting! As I said, that meet and greet will be brief, for we have a schedule to keep, to include YESHUA’S LANDING ON EARTH ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES IN JERUSALEM during a future Feast of Trumpets!! We may not know the exact day and hour, for that is new moon speak, talking about the Feast of Trumpets on Tishri 1, but we know the season, during the Fall Feasts of Yahweh. Notice verse 14, it was Yahweh Who resurrected Yeshua 2,000 years ago, it will be Yahweh who resurrects the saints in the end and brings them with Yeshua to Jerusalem, fulfilling His promises of the ages to gather all His people to Jerusalem, together again, for all eternity!!
Notice where this initial meeting takes place, in the air. This is the breathable air of the lower atmosphere, per Thayer’s Greek dictionary: G109 ἀήρ aēr
Thayer Definition:
1) the air, particularly the lower and denser air as distinguished from the higher and rarer air
2) the atmospheric region
Part of Speech: noun masculine
A Related Word by Thayer’s/Strong’s Number: from aemi (to breathe unconsciously, i.e. respire; by analogy, to blow)
Citing in TDNT: 1:165, 25
In other words, we don’t go anywhere near Yahweh’s third HEAVEN! We blast up into the air and fly on over to Jerusalem, where all the action will be taking place, according to the Scriptures. We won’t even miss a breath!! But we all will be changed in an instant into an immortal being! Forget that flying off to heaven theory!
Paul summarizes his end-times thoughts in chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-4, “But concerning the times and the seasons [Yahweh’s appointed times, or Fall Feasts!!!], brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord [this always means Judgment Day, the day of wrath] so comes as a thief in the night [suddenly, unexpectedly by the sinner]. 3For when they say, “Peace and safety!” [saying it doesn’t mean the same as having it] then sudden destruction [the double destruction of Jeremiah 17:18] comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape [but we do escape]. 4But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this [Judgment] Day should overtake you as a thief.” Saints who are watching and praying will not be surprised when Judgment Day comes, but the sinners who continue to rebel and refuse Yahweh, will be surprised. Judgment Day will come upon them with double destruction, like a thief in the night. You know, the United Nations has been spouting peace and safety for almost 70 years, but they have initiated, or been involved with, about 250 WARS in that same amount of time. Spouting off about peace and safety does not mean you have peace and safety!! Muslims, who virtually run the U.N., speak peace and safety, but they are coming for your head!!
1 Thessalonians 5:8-10, “But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation [the Second Coming of Yeshua]. 9For Yahweh did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Master Yeshua HaMashiach, 10who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him [forever, on earth!!].” Notice how Paul’s teaching here coincides with the teaching in Hebrews 9. Our eternal salvation is finally accomplished at the second coming of Yeshua. Sin was dealt with at His first coming, salvation will be dealt with at His second coming. We miss the wrath of Judgment Day, but notice it says nothing about missing the tribulation!!
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, “Now may the Mighty One of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the [second] coming of our Master Yeshua Messiah. 24He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” Wow, what a promise, what a prophecy! Our whole being will be preserved, saved, finally, for all time and eternity at the SECOND COMING OF YESHUA!! You called out one, you elect saint, rejoice!! Your salvation is guaranteed to be completed at Yeshua’s second coming. Check your local Holy Spirit airlines, His arrival is scheduled for a day very very soon!! Watch for a soon-coming Tishri 1 New Moon and listen for the trumpet of Yahweh!
Be blessed this holy day season,
Gene Benjamin II
September 27-28, 2012 CE