The Watchman’s Call

Guest (Male): Standing at the intersection of the word and the world, there is a clear sound for uncertain times. Welcome to the Watchman’s Call. Join us as we stand on the ramparts of Scripture to examine the intersection of biblical prophecy and modern culture. The headlines are changing, but the blueprint has already been written. Listen as Pastor Andy Woods uncovers the prophetic significance of the world we live in. The Watchman’s Call starts now.

Dr. Andy Woods: I want to welcome you back to the Watchman’s Call broadcast where we’re dealing with this subject of the Rapture. Rapture: truth or fiction? Is this really a Bible-based doctrine? We’re trying to answer in the affirmative by looking at two major central Scriptures: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-58. We are using those areas of Scripture to develop ten truths about the Rapture.

Thus far, we’ve seen a number of things about the Rapture. Five things: it’s an important doctrine; it’s distinct from the Second Advent; when it occurs, it will involve the catching away of all living believers; it will be a reunion; and then in our last show together, we wrapped up with this: when the Rapture happens, it will be a resurrection.

The time in history when the church age believer receives their resurrected body. Let me take you to a sixth truth about the Rapture. When the Rapture happens, it will exempt an entire generation of Christians from death. Notice 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 51. Paul says, "I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will be changed."

Sleep is a euphemism, a polite way of saying death. He’s talking about a generation of Christians living in time at some point that actually will not die. It’s talking about the removal of an entire generation of Christians before the expiration of their natural lifespans. This can be very heartening and encouraging to us. There’s a generation that won’t die. Maybe we’re that generation.

I can’t prove that, I can’t guarantee that, I can hope for it. But I know there is some group living in time at some point—a whole generation of believers—that will not experience death. If you’ve ever watched someone die or been with a loved one at death, you know that it’s not something that’s light or easy. It can be very difficult, it can be very painful. Just think, maybe we’re that generation that won’t have to go through that.

When I begin to talk this way, people say this is just science fiction. You’re just making things up. Surely the Bible doesn’t communicate this kind of idea. But the truth of the matter is, there have been many people in the Bible that were taken to heaven before their natural lifespans expired. Let me give you a list here.

Take, for example, Enoch. Genesis 5. He was taken up and he never died before the flood. 2 Kings 2, same thing with Elijah. Taken to heaven in chariots of fire. Jesus himself was caught up in his ascension. Acts 1:11, Revelation 12:5. Jesus, of course, is a different case because he was already in his resurrected body at that point.

Philip, in Acts 8:39, was caught up. Now he’s a little bit of a different case because when he was brought up to heaven, he was brought back down again. Paul the Apostle, in 2 Corinthians 12:2 and verse 4, talks about how he was caught up to the third heaven. In the case of Philip and Paul, it would be a little bit troubling to go into heaven and then only to be brought back down.

I say to the Lord, "Lord, if you want to take me up into heaven, that’s fine, but I don’t want to come back again," because heaven is going to be so wonderful. You’ll notice that John, in Revelation chapter 4, verses 1 and 2, on the island of Patmos was caught up to see the final vision that we now call the Book of Revelation. In his case, we believe he came back to the earth.

You go to the two witnesses that are described in Revelation chapter 11. They’re going to be killed in the city streets of Jerusalem. They’re going to be martyred for the whole world to see. Revelation 11:12 says they’re going to be brought back to life. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." Then they went up to heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them. Isn’t that a rapture?

My point is, when people say the idea of a rapture is just fictitious or unbiblical, or it’s never happened in Scripture, the truth of the matter is it’s happened many times in Scripture. In fact, you might be interested to learn that the same Greek word *harpazo* that Paul uses to describe the church’s rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 is also used to describe Christ’s ascension, Philip being caught up into heaven, and Paul being caught up to the third heaven.

So this idea that this is a crazy doctrine, this is not taught anywhere in the Bible, people need to actually read the Bible. When you read the Bible, you’ll see that there are many raptures of individuals. It’s just the next time around, when the Rapture of the church transpires, it’s not going to be just an individual here or there that will be caught up or taken.

This time around, when God does this miracle, he’s coming back for an entire generation of Christians. In other words, he’s not bringing the taxicab, he’s bringing the bus. He’s going to pile us all in the bus and we’re going to be taken to heaven. As this happens, there will be a generation living in time that will not have to go through the natural, normal difficulties of death.

Let me take you to a seventh truth about the Rapture. When the Rapture happens, it will take place instantaneously. Notice 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and notice verse 52. It says "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet." Now, I don’t want to get too much on a rabbit trail here, but the last trumpet has nothing to do with the trumpets in the Book of Revelation.

And it has nothing to do with the trumpet of Christ’s second advent mentioned in Matthew chapter 24, verse 31. This is not the last trumpet ever; this is the last trumpet of the age of the church. That’s what he means by the last trumpet. When this is sounded, the Rapture will occur in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

Notice how Paul describes this Rapture event. He analogizes it to the twinkling of an eye. Think how fast it takes to simply blink one’s eye. That’s the speed and velocity in which the Rapture will occur. You’ll also notice that Paul says "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." When you look up the original Greek translated in English "moment," it’s the Greek word *atomos*.

That's where we get the word "atom" from. What is an atom? An atom is something by way of being a particle that’s so tiny that it cannot be divided. In fact, if you were to divide it, you get an atomic reaction, an atomic explosion because an atom is something that is such a tiny particle of time, it’s indivisible.

That’s how Paul describes the Rapture, with this word *atomos*, and then he uses this descriptor, "in the twinkling of an eye." You know what’s interesting about God? Sometimes when he does things, he takes a while to do them. For example, in Genesis 15:13-16, he told the children of Israel that they would go into Egyptian bondage for 400 years, and then after 400 years, God would take Israel out of Egyptian bondage.

In Jeremiah 25:11 and Jeremiah 29:10, he told the nation of Israel that they were going to go into the Babylonian captivity for 70 years. It’s interesting that when you study the book of Daniel, Daniel chapter 9, verses 24-27, God gave to Daniel a stopwatch or a clock that would have 490 years on it for Israel’s future. We believe 483 of those 490 years have elapsed, with seven years remaining.

And it’s interesting that when you go into the Old Testament and you look at some of the Old Testament prophets like Ezekiel, over in the book of Ezekiel chapter 4, verses 4-6, God says things like this to the nation of Israel, speaking to Ezekiel: "As you lie down on your left side, lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it. You shall bear the iniquity for the number of days that you lie on it."

"For I have assigned you a number of days corresponding to the years of their iniquity: 390 days. Thus, you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel." Verse 6 of Ezekiel 4 says, "When you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, to bear the iniquity of the house of Judah. I have assigned it to you for 40 days, a day for each year."

Look at these numbers: 390, 390 years total. 40, 40 years total. That’s God dealing with the nation of Israel in large calendar increments of time. Compare that to what Paul says concerning the Rapture. When the Rapture happens, it’s not going to take any lapsing of a calendar period of time. God is very good at communicating that when he wants to, but the Rapture’s different.

When the Rapture happens, it will happen lickety-split, it will happen instantaneously. It is analogized to the twinkling of an eye. It is something that is such a small time period in which it occurs, it’s analogized to an indivisible particle. So that would be number seven: when the Rapture happens, it will happen instantaneously.

Now notice number eight. This is very important because if you understand this, it will clear up a lot of confusion. The Rapture is a mystery. Notice 1 Corinthians 15, and notice verse 51. Paul says, "I tell you a mystery." It’s the Greek word *mysterion*. "We will not all sleep, but we will be changed."

What’s a mystery? A mystery is a very unfortunate translation of the Greek word *mysterion*, because in English, "mystery" means something completely and totally different than what it meant originally in Greek. To us, a mystery is something that’s prolonged, drawn out. For example, if you’re watching a mystery television show—I think of the old Columbo shows—you really don’t know who the bad guy is until the last five minutes of the show.

A mystery is something you have to search out with great diligence to figure out what it means. That’s not what mystery means in Greek, the language of the New Testament. In Greek, Koine Greek, the word "mystery," *mysterion*, is something that is hidden but now openly unveiled. What was hidden is now brought out into the open, it’s now disclosed.

Let me quote to you from a Greek lexicon. It defines mystery as follows: "In the New Testament, *mysterion* denotes not the mysterious, as with the English word, but that which, being outside the range of unassisted natural apprehension, can be made only by divine revelation, and is made known in a manner and at a time appointed by God and to those who are illumined by the Holy Spirit." Something veiled, now completely and totally unmasked.

Paul frequently uses this word mystery. Over in Colossians 1:26, he says, "That is the mystery which has been hidden from past ages and generations, but now has been manifested to His." The Rapture is a mystery. 1 Corinthians 15:51. It is something that has never been disclosed before, but now it is openly disclosed.

And I believe that the very first time that the Rapture was ever disclosed is over in John chapter 14, verses 1-3. It’s the first time Jesus made any reference to the Rapture. It’s the first time we know anything about the Rapture. Those verses describe the coming of Christ so differently than the way it has been described in the pages of the Old Testament.

He says in John 14, verses 1-3, "Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again. I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

This is why Paul, when he explains the Rapture to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 15, says, "This we say to you by the word of the Lord." What word of the Lord? Paul was obviously aware of what Jesus had communicated to the disciples in the upper room in John 14, verses 1-3. That becomes the first time that the Rapture is ever mentioned in Scripture.

It is a doctrine that you do not find in the Old Testament. The Second Advent, where he comes in violent judgment at the end of the seven-year tribulation period, you’ll find that in the Old Testament and you’ll find that in the New Testament. In fact, the oldest book of the Bible is Job, and Job unveils the Second Advent very early. In Job 19:25, he says, "I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the end He will take His stand on the earth."

That’s not the Rapture, that’s the Second Advent of Christ. Zechariah 14, verse 4, says, "In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will split in its middle east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south." That’s a reference to the Second Advent found in the Old Testament.

You’ll find references to the Second Advent, Old Testament and New Testament. Not so the Rapture. The Rapture is unique, it’s distinct, it’s different. It’s a mystery. It is not something that is ever disclosed in the Bible until Jesus first references it in John chapter 14, verses 1-3. And then, of course, the Apostle Paul primarily, but he will water that doctrine that the seed that has been planted by Christ and bring it into greater clarity, description, and focus.

The truth of the matter is, it’s not just the Rapture that’s a mystery. It’s the whole church age, this age of time that we’re living in now, in between the day of Pentecost and the Rapture, called the Body of Christ or the Church Age. Ephesians 3, verses 3-6 describes this period of time as a mystery.

It says there that by revelation, there was made known to me a mystery, as I wrote in brief. By referring to this when you read, you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men as it has now been revealed to His apostles and prophets in the Spirit. To be specific, the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.

The whole church age, this unique man spiritually speaking that we’re now in, where believing Jews and believing Gentiles are co-heirs and joint heirs in Christ Jesus, the dividing wall being broken down. That is something that you don’t find in the Old Testament. You don’t even find it in the Gospels. Jesus just hints of this time period that’s coming when he says in Matthew 16, verse 18, "I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it."

But it is something that came into existence as a mystery by God in Acts 2, and Paul spent an awful lot of time explaining this mystery. Down in Ephesians 3, verse 9, he says, "And to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery." That’s our Greek word *mysterion*. "Which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things." It’s not just the Rapture that’s a mystery, it’s the entire church age that is a mystery, the Rapture just being part of that package.

When you start to understand this, you start to understand why Paul spent so much time in prison. Think about prison life in the first-century Greco-Roman world. You don’t have an opportunity to get a tattoo, to watch cable, you don’t have an opportunity to lift weights. You’re just alone, and you’re typically, in Paul’s case, chained to the Praetorian Guard. Paul had no choice but to listen to God, receive truth, and get it down into written form.

Typically through the help of an amanuensis, which is just a fancy way of saying scribe. What was Paul’s assignment? It was to fill out this mystery realm that there was no knowledge of, which is the church age. It’s Paul the Apostle who tells us about the church age, tells us what the church is supposed to do, what the church is supposed to be, what the church’s purpose is, what the church’s leadership is to look like, what the church’s mission on the earth is.

You get that in his 13 letters. He fills out this mystery, and part of that package that Paul was given by God was how the church age will end. What he is explaining in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-58 is the church will end with a miracle. Just like the church started with a miracle on the Day of Pentecost, that’s where the baptizing ministry of the Holy Spirit began and about 3,000 were saved.

They began there to speak in languages called tongues that they had never learned before. Fire descended upon the heads, tongues of fire on the apostles. The church age began with a miracle. What Paul is explaining in his 13 letters that we call the epistles of Paul, he is saying that just like the church started with a miracle, it’s going to end with a miracle. The end of the church age, the last trumpet, will be this miracle called the Rapture.

Just like you don’t find the Rapture in the Old Testament, you don’t have the church age, the gospel is clear all the way through, but you don’t find the church age in the Old Testament because it’s a mystery. Well, the Rapture is part of that package as a mystery as well. A lot of people try to find the Rapture all kinds of places in the Old Testament, but it’s not there, folks. The whole church age is not there.

Church age is not in the Old Testament, it’s barely hinted at in the Gospels. You’ve got to wait until Paul to get clarity on the church age, and part of that truth is how the church age will end: this miracle called the Rapture, which is specifically a mystery, a *mysterion*, a New Testament doctrine introduced by Jesus in the upper room, clarified to a greater degree with the Apostle Paul. We’ll see more truths about the Rapture in our next show together. God bless you.

Guest (Male): You’ve been listening to the Watchman’s Call, exploring the intersection of prophecy and culture. This program is a ministry of Sugarland Bible Church, a place where the Bible is taught and the times are discerned. Visit this Sunday in person or connect with them anytime at slbc.org. That’s slbc.org. Until next time, may the Lord give you a spirit of discernment in the week ahead. God bless you.