RAPTURE – PART XIV
JOB, THE POST-TRIB RAPTURIST
Let’s begin with Job 14:1-17, “Man who is born of woman
Is of few days and full of trouble.
2 He comes forth like a flower and fades away;
He flees like a shadow and does not continue.
3 And do You open Your eyes on such a one,
And bring me to judgment with Yourself?
4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
No one!
5 Since his days are determined,
The number of his months is with You;
You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass.
6 Look away from him that he may rest,
Till like a hired man he finishes his day.
7 “For there is hope for a tree,
If it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
And that its tender shoots will not cease.
8 Though its root may grow old in the earth,
And its stump may die in the ground,
9 Yet at the scent of water it will bud
And bring forth branches like a plant.
10 But man dies and is laid away;
Indeed he breathes his last
And where is he?
11 As water disappears from the sea,
And a river becomes parched and dries up,
12 So man lies down and does not rise.
Till the heavens are no more [this is a timing statement, and it is WAY DOWN the timeline!],
They will not awake
Nor be roused from their sleep.
13 “Oh, that You would hide me in the grave,
That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past, [Judgment Day, not too far down the timeline today!]
That You would appoint me a set time, and remember me![Yom Kippur?]
14 If a man dies, shall he live again?
All the days of my hard service I will wait,
Till my change comes.
15 You shall call, and I will answer You;
You shall desire the work of Your hands.
16 For now You number my steps,
But do not watch over my sin.
17 My transgression is sealed up in a bag,
And You cover my iniquity.”
Notice that brother Job believes in the resurrection of his flesh body! Teachers and preachers say Job agrees with the Apostle Paul when he says, “till my change comes”, as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, “we shall all be changed”. Job agrees with Paul that Yeshua will awaken the dead with a call, “You shall call”, a shout, as Paul stated in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, “the Master Himself will descend from heaven with a shout”. But have you ever heard a teacher or preacher teaching on the rapture/resurrection say that Job and Paul agree on when the rapture/resurrection will occur? In Job 14:12-13 above, it looks like Job believes he will be resurrected after the heavens are gone, or at least AFTER the wrath of Yahweh on Judgment Day!! The grave is Job’s safe hiding place, at least he wants to wait in the grave until after Yahweh’s wrath is past. Did I twist those Scriptures? I don’t think so, that’s what they state! You can teach and preach what you want, but I believe Job was a POST-TRIBULATION believer!! So, here’s my question to the Apostle Paul, since you agree with Job on two points of the rapture/resurrection, do you agree with Job on the timing of the rapture, i.e., a post-trib rapture/resurrection? I can’t wait to ask Paul that one.
Let’s move over to Job 19:22-27, “Why do you persecute me as Yahweh does,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 “Oh, that my words were written!
Oh, that they were inscribed in a book! [Praise Yahweh, they were, Job!]
24 That they were engraved on a rock
With an iron pen and lead, forever!
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth;
26 And after my skin is destroyed, this I know,
That in my flesh I shall see Yahweh,
27 Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!”
Here again we see that Job is a firm believer in the resurrection! But look at the TIMING element that Job shares with us as to when he believes he will see Yahweh face to face!! When Yeshua/Yahweh stands on the earth in the latter days!! The Hebrew word for “at last” in verse 25 is Strong’s # 314 and means later, subsequent, latter, last (of time). Did you get that? It means at the end of time when Yeshua/Yahweh stands on the earth, just like Zechariah 14:4, Acts 1:11-12, and Revelation 14:1 state. That is Judgment Day language, at the end of the Great Tribulation, when Yeshua stands on the Mount of Olives! You don’t hear too many teachers preach Job 19 these days. Why? Does it mess up their pre-trib escape rapture theory? Maybe.
Now Job is really begging the question. How does the principle of first use apply here? Is this the first use of rapture/resurrection language in Scripture? Could be, Job was one of the FIRST BOOKS, if not THE FIRST BOOK, of the Scriptures ever written down. Wow, that’s a powerful thought, and the pre-tribbers need to deal with it. JOB WAS NOT AN ISRAELITE, JOB WAS NOT A HEBREW, JOB WAS NOT A JEW. His life was not just a type and shadow of a Hebrew, but it was certainly a type of the BELIEVER’S life!! He understood redemption and resurrection, long BEFORE Moses’ Law, Jews, or the nation of ancient Israel ever existed. Deal with him.
Let’s now move down further in Job, where the young man Elihu is rebuking and teaching Job in 33:25-30, “His flesh shall be young like a child’s, he shall return to the days of his youth.
26 He shall pray to Yahweh, and He will delight in him,
He shall see His face with joy,
For He restores to man His righteousness.
27 Then he [man, or Job] looks at men and says,
‘I have sinned, and perverted what was right,
And it did not profit me.’
28 He will redeem his soul from going down to the Pit,
And his life shall see the light.
29 “Behold, Yahweh works all these things,
Twice, in fact, three times with a man,
30 To bring back his soul from the Pit,
That he may be enlightened with the light of life.”
You can clearly see that Elihu also believed in a resurrection, in perfect agreement with Job, but I don’t see a timing element in Elihu’s statements. Look what the name Elihu means: The Hebrew word translated as “Elihu” in the Book of Job is the Hebrew word “Eliyhu.” This word literally means, “Yahweh is [my] Mighty One.” See Gesenius Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, page 451, Strong’s No. 453. Yahweh was surely speaking through Elihu, a type of Messiah, to Job!!
Just like Yeshua called Lazarus by name when He raised him from the dead in John 11:43-44, Job is waiting for his Redeemer to call his name on resurrection day! Our dead believing family and friends also await the loud call back to life!! And take heart, it’s not a bad thing to die before the Tribulation, as Isaiah 57:1-2 reveals, “The righteous perishes, and no man takes it to heart; merciful men are taken away,
while no one considers that the righteous is taken away from evil. 2He shall enter into peace; they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.”
Gene Benjamin II
October 7, 2012 CE