Kingdom Come

“There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 16:25)

“Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” James 5:19-20)

The Word ‘Rapture’ Is Not in the Bible

What Paul discussed as a group event was not “rapture” but “resurrection.” This is absolutely clear if you stay in context in the entire passage of this teaching in I Corinthians 15.

“brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand…unless ye have believed in vain.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that

1. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures
2. And that he was buried,
3. and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
4. [Proof!] – And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once…After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also…Therefore whether it were I or they,
5. so we preach – the resurrection! –  and so ye believed.
6. Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

• But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
• And if Christ be not risen, then your faith is also vain
• For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
• And [the whole process never happened -] ye are yet in your sins.
• Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

This is the logical conclusion of what has been preached since Jesus died and rose again, example given in Acts 13:32-39.

we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers – to destroy death – God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again;

• • as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.
  • And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.
  • Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption…

Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins [PROVEN by his resurrection!]: And by him all that believe are justified from all things.

Back to Paul in I Corinthians 15:

BUT [the whole process DID happen!] now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order:

1. Christ the firstfruits;
2. afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”

That salvation is:

the resurrection of the dead!

It [salvation] is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption…

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,  at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound,

1. and the dead shall be raised incorruptible – resurrection!
2. AND we shall be changed –

Without dying first! This is the mystery being shewn / revealed. Every mystery, by definition, is a pre-existing fact which is confusing because something about it is unknown.

The known fact is that we are changed from mortal to immortal through resurrection of the body.

“I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And [even] though after my skin worms destroy this body [totally decomposed to the elements by bacterial decay], yet in my flesh shall I see God:” (Job 19:24-25)

The mystery Paul is revealing that NOT ALL believers will experience death prior to being changed from mortal to immortal. 

For this corruptible MUST put on incorruption, and this mortal MUST put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

“he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory…And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” (Isaiah 25:7-9)

And again Paul explains resurrection as the final step in the process of salvation.

“I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

Put this in context of the Apostles’ hope to reign with Jesus Christ in their lifetime.

“Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6)

The answer was clearly “No”, as apostle after apostle and multitudes of believers were martyred or simply died of old age. Were they missing out on the fulfillment of human history?

No.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him…

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first –Resurrection! 

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we “ever be” with the Lord.” (I Thessalonians 4:13-18)

“Ever be” is certainly the same as “always be” / “live forever” consistent with “changed from corruptible to incorruptible”.

Paul was not presenting a brand-new “mystery” religion to his mainly scripturally illiterate Gentile followers. As always, he was explaining a known phenomenon from the Old Testament as much as every other aspect of salvation.

“And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” (Genesis 5:24)

Enoch was a prophet/priest/king who walked through the valley of the shadow of death preaching of coming judgment to the most wicked population ever to walk the face of the earth.

Enoch’s transformation from mortal to immortal occurred after enduring great tribulation. 

1 These are the words of the blessing of Enoch; according to which he blessed the chosen and righteous who must be present on the day of distress, which is appointed, for the removal of all the wicked and impious.
(Zephaniah 1:14-18), (Matthew 24:21-22), (Matthew 13:30), (Revelation 7:14)

2 And Enoch began his story and said: –There was a righteous man whose eyes were opened by the Lord, and he saw a Holy vision in the Heavens…for a distant generation that will come.

To be “distant” or “far off” references multiple aspects of being oriented to person, place and time, a standard measure of a person’s mental stability. With respect to Enoch’s statement, this can mean any, but most likely all, of being

• far off in the future – hundreds of years to Shem’s generation, repeating thousands of years into our era,
• far off in place from where he was speaking at the time – falling upon the whole earth,
• far off / remote from relationship to God and his spokespersons.

3 Concerning the Chosen / Messiah I spoke; and I uttered a parable concerning them: The Holy and Great One will come out of his dwelling. (Isaiah 35:4), (Ezekiel 34:11-12)

4 And the Eternal God will tread from there upon Mount Sinai, and he will appear with his Host, and will appear in the strength of his power from Heaven. (Mount Sinai: relationship with Moses and Jerusalem) (Galatians 4:24-26)

5. And all will be afraid, and the Watchers will shake, and fear and great trembling will seize them, up to the ends of the earth. (James 2:19), (Isaiah 24:21-22)

6 And the high mountains will be shaken; and the high hills will be laid low and will melt like wax in a flame. (Jeremiah 4:24), (Micah 1:4)

7 And the earth will sink, and everything that is on the earth will be destroyed, and there will be judgment upon all, AND upon all the righteous. (Zephaniah 1:2-3, 6,18), (Zephaniah 3:8), (2 Peter 3:7,10-12), (Isaiah 13:9), (Isaiah 24:1-23), (Isaiah 28:22)

There is no question that Enoch’s prophecy of destruction of the whole pre-flood earth is repeated in our post-flood era.

• “there are certain men crept in unawares [NOW! to the current body of believers], who were before of old ordained to this condemnation,
• ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness,
• and denying the only Lord God / YHVH / Creator,
• and our Lord Jesus Christ [as the Seed of the Woman, human savior, changing him into the god Mithras / Apollo of the Luciferian trinity]…
• Raging waves of the sea [of outer space, chaos] foaming out their own shame; wandering stars / fallen angels, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
• And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these [future false prophets], saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 
  • To execute judgment upon all, 
  • and to convince all that are ungodly among them
  • of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed,
  • and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” (Jude 1:13-14)

Elijah is likewise an exceptional prophet who established his credentials during a time of vicious persecution of God’s people.

His transformation, like Enoch’s, can be seen as a reward in the Game of Life for an exceptional life’s service under fire, NOT an escape from it! Go straight to heaven, do not delay through the process of death / sleeping in the bosom of Abraham.

“Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of [my prophets slain by you] by to morrow about this time. And…he arose, and went for his life…into the wilderness, and…he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life.”

And in response the LORD said unto him, in effect, “The fight is not over yet, and it’s only going to get worse. I needed that handful of people who repented of their paganism and turned back to submission [i.e. Islam in Arabic] to the One True God YHVH AKA Creator to throw the balance of evil to good. Now, lets get on with it ’cause you’d understand I’d like this to be over even more than you if you saw the view from where I’m sitting.”

• Go…anoint [the warlord] Hazael to be king over [Israel’s brutal enemy] Syria:
• And Jehu the [general over Israel’s army] shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel:
• and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.
• And it shall come to pass, that
  • him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay:
  • and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. (I Kings 19:9-17)

Elijah doesn’t call an Uber or board a high speed train, or breeze through customs. He is trudges on foot, foraging for survival, back into the worst enemy territory of his day that he just tried to leave! Get it? He does not get to leave enemy territory! Until his work is done.

And then he is rewarded with transformation without experiencing death. Daniel sticky note flags in the body of his text directing our attention to this fact. 

Gabriel is not the personal name of an archangel as commonly inferred, but instead the classification of a type of human being who has already been translated into immortality.

“whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man / one like the other Gabri-el / Mascular individual of God, 

Note – angels have no gender. Specifying this individual as male absolutely identifies him as human. But there’s more.

whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, (Daniel 9:21)

Obviously flying is not an intrinsic ability of this individual

Backing up to where Daniel saw him in the vision at the beginning recorded in chapter 8 of Daniel.

“Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake...

• there stood before me as the appearance of a man / male. 
• And I heard a [hu]man’s / ha adam’s voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said,
• Gabri-el / “mascular individual of God”,
• make this / one of a group of like ones to understand the vision.
• he said unto me, Understand, O son of [hu]man / adam…

The passage makes it eminently clear that the two saints include Daniel as one of them – like two “older kids” fondly teasing their “younger brother” who’s desperate to be included in their secret. 

These two saints can only be be Enoch and Elijah, both of whom were translated into immortal bodies without dying.

Both of whom risked their lives – like Daniel – trying to save as many people as they could during Great Tribulation.

The huge problem with American Christianity is the lack of willingness to fight and suffer for what is right, the conviction that heaven begins with earthly prosperity and superiority, and the cowardly conviction that believers escape the earth at the first sign of trouble rather than remaining to rescue so much as their own loved ones.

There is no historical precedent of this whatsoever in the entire Bible. God’s people don’t retreat. We face the enemy, fearlessly! Led by an experience general during yet another reign of terror and mass slaughter of God’s people prior to the coming of the Lord himself.