RAPTURE – XII
FIRST STOP: WHERE I AM
John 14:1-4, “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 and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4And where I go you know, and the way you know.” These Scripture verses are rich with revelation. When Yeshua ascended to Heaven, He had many assignments, but one of them was to prepare a place for His future bride to dwell. Verse 3 is a prophecy of Yeshua’s second coming, not a third coming. And look at that phrase, “receive you to Myself”. There’s your Rapture! But what about “where I am”? Where is that talking about? Well, Yeshua had just stated that He was coming again, meaning COMING DOWN FROM HEAVEN TO THE EARTH!! So where will Yeshua be in this context? He will eventually be ON THE EARTH, and that is where we will be with the Lord forever! He promised to go up, which He did. He promised to build us some mansions, which we trust He is doing now. He promised to come down again, which we trust He will do soon. He promised that we would get to be with Him wherever He is. We trust that will be forever.
So where is Yeshua going to be when He returns at His second coming? Well, first, according to rapture teaching, He’s going to be in the lower atmosphere, meeting and greeting His raptured and resurrected saints, according to the family reunion teaching in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, “Then 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 Lord.” The Greek word for air here means breathable air, which necessitates the lower atmosphere. Notice how Paul confirms the “where I am” of the breathable lower atmosphere, that Yeshua had stated in John 14:3.
Folks, it’s time for a paradigm shift in your thinking. We’re not going to be flying off into the sweet bye and bye of heaven. Heaven, ALL OF HEAVEN, is moving to earth. Yahweh, Holy Spirit, Yeshua, the Ark, the altar, the whole Sanctuary of Heaven is moving to earth. It’s just a matter of when, not if. But that’s a whole study unto itself.
For now, I want us to get a grip on where we are going to be with the Lord at the rapture/resurrection/second coming of Messiah. Let’s look at the great Second Coming Scripture in Revelation 19, “After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to Yahweh our Mighty One! 2For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.” 3Again they said, “Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!” 4And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped Yahweh who sat on the throne, saying, “Amen! Alleluia!” 5Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our Mighty One, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!”
6And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For Sovereign Yahweh Omnipotent reigns! 7Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” 8And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
9Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of Yahweh.” 10And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Yeshua. Worship Yahweh! For the testimony of Yeshua is the spirit of prophecy.”
Look at verses 7-9, here’s a picture of Yeshua’s wife, His bride, ready to be raptured and maybe seen getting raptured, or at least getting eternal clothing for their immortal bodies. We see the call to the marriage supper. This appears to be preparation language, so it may be just before the rapture. But notice that these verses, the virgins with their oil, are ready to receive their Groom, and this preparation is before His return, which is seen in the following verses.
“11Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of Yahweh. 14And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty Yahweh. 16And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
The verses above seem to indicate that the bride gets a look into heaven to see their approaching Groom on His big white horse! We may be on the earth, making final wedding preparations, or more than likely, we will now be in the lower atmosphere, with a great vision of the heavenlies above us, and the WAR below us. In fact, we may be given white horses of our own and join in the fight! Get the paradigm in your head, we go up to meet the Lord, while He is on His way down to earth, we then join Him in His final descent to earth! We don’t fly off into outer space, or into Heaven, for a wedding ceremony, marriage supper, and honeymoon! The wedding, the marriage supper, and the wedding celebration during the Feast of Tabernacles, will happen in the lower atmosphere or on the earth, after Yeshua’s enemies have been made His footstool.
“17Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather together for the supper of the great Mighty One, 18that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.”
19And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. [The great Battle of Armageddon!] 20Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.”
Notice something that is missing from this whole scene in Revelation 19, the great Second Coming scenario. You DO NOT SEE Yeshua’s FEET TOUCHING DOWN ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES!! Is that strange to anyone besides me? Yeshua fights from the lower atmosphere! He protects His bride with one hand and crushes His enemies with the other, and with the sword that proceeds from His mouth! We know from Zechariah 14 and Revelation 14:1 that Yeshua eventually lands on Mount Zion, but at this point in time in Revelation 19, we DO NOT SEE Yeshua back on earth yet! 14:1, “Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads.” Zechariah 14:3-4, “Then Yahweh will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. 4And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south.” And I am so glad to see that Yeshua and Yahweh are ONE!
Folks, we’re going to be hovering over the earth, with Yeshua, for a little while, while He fights His enemies and then prepares earth for His Millennial reign. I’m sorry if this messes up your rapture plans, but it’s more biblical than flying off into the heavens with our Groom! Revelation 5:10, “And have made us kings and priests to our Mighty One; and we shall reign on the earth.”
Study the whole of Revelation 14, the three angel’s messages, but right now I just want you to see “where I am” in verses 14-16, “Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. 15And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.” This is a Judgment Day scene, but notice “where I am”. Yeshua is floating, hovering, on a cloud above the earth, while judging the earth. If my science serves me correctly, many clouds float around in the lower atmosphere of breathable air!
Again, 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18, “Then 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.” At the rapture, we’re going to be with Yeshua from that moment forward into all eternity, but initially, we’re going to hover over the earth with Him, while He settles the score with Satan. Forget that disappearing into the farthest reaches of Heaven for the marriage supper idea. I believe our marriage supper and our first Feast of Tabernacles with Yeshua bodily present, will either be in the clouds, in the air, or on the earth.
Gene Benjamin II
October 6, 2012 CE