Saturday 12th
December
The apostle Paul speaks of
the ‘catching up’ of the saints into the air, popularly called the Rapture
(=seizing up) of the church. The Rapture is sometimes dismissed as a modern or
extremist idea. But that is hardly so. Paul is one of many who testify to it.
The Lord Jesus speaks of his elect being gathered ‘from the four winds, from
one end of the heavens to the other’ (Matt. 24.31). The apostle John speaks of
two witnesses being caught up to heaven in a cloud (Rev. 11.12). These
witnesses, following Moses’ legislation that the testimony of two witnesses is
reliable, represent the faithful witness of the church, or part of it. The
Apocalypse of Ezra, dating from the late first century, says: ‘The men who have
been caught up, who have not tasted death from their birth, shall appear. Then
shall the heart of the inhabitants [of the world] be changed and converted to a
different spirit’ (4 Ezra 6.26)
The same theme appears in
Jewish documents written before the New Testament. The Wisdom of Solomon speaks
of the righteous reappearing from heaven, which implies that they had first
been caught up there (3.1–9). And the second book of the Sibylline Oracles
says: ‘The catching-up is near when some deceivers, in place of prophets,
approach, speaking on earth’ (2.165–66).
The theme can be traced back
to the Old Testament. It is taught, by example, in the catching-up of Enoch and
Elijah (Gen. 5.24; 2 Kgs 2.9–12). And it is spoken of by the Sons of Korah, who
foresaw the resurrected dead being caught up: ‘God will redeem my soul from
Sheol, for he will catch me up’ (Ps. 49.15; cf. 1 Thess. 4.16–17).
Therefore the Rapture of the
church is not some new Pentecostal doctrine. It is a clearly- taught lesson of
biblical prophecy. It will take place when the Lord returns (Matt. 24.31; 1
Thess. 4.16–17). Some of the above passages imply that there will be a period
of time between the catching-up and the reappearing of the Lord with his holy
ones in judgement.
David
Mitchell
No comments:
Post a Comment