SNATCHED BEFORE DISASTER
If you have not yet watched Informed Christian's video entitled "Understanding Matthew 24" I encourage you to do so. The link for this is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMZ4J06CU2A. It explains how we are living in the days of Noah and Lot and how God's people were rescued BEFORE the trouble hit the land.
Yes, I understand that neither Noah or Lot and their families physically left the Earth before destruction came, but I still lean toward believing that our rescue will be the harpazo--the Greek word for 'caught up' in 1 Thessalonians 4:17--for it literally means: "to seize, carry off by force; to seize on, claim for one's self eagerly; to snatch out or away" [source: BLB=BlueLetterBible]. It also means "to seize up out of danger" [source: In Case You're Still Here by Demond M. James, p. 11.
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1456768328].
This, of course, does not mean that the Bride never sees any troubles before the Groom comes, but there is definitely a picture of Him taking Her out of harm's way. I happen to believe the trouble He will allow us to escape is Jacob's Trouble.
In the Hebrew Aramaic the word for 'caught up' is netchatef :
The "Church" Is Taken Out Before The Time of Wrath
In Revelation 3:10, Yahshua says I will keep thee from the hour of temptation. The word from is the Greek word Ek which means out of and away from the hour of temptation; the Father's Wrath; the Great Tribulation -- see Strong's #1537 -- He does not say He will keep you safely through it, but out of it ... as in snatched up!
Also, in 1st Thessalonians 1:10, it says that Yahshua has delivered us from the wrath to come. The word from, in this example, is the Greek word Apo -- see Strong's #575 -- which means separation and departing or a part is taken ... the implication here is in a physical sense; of distance and of place.
In 1st Thessalonians 4:17, the term caught up is the Greek word Harpazo which means to be carried off by force; or the Aramaic/Hebrew word Netchatef which means kidnapped ... to meet the Master in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Master -- Yahshua is not returning to the earth here; the "Church" meets Him in the air and ever remains with Him. [Source:http://www.alanhorvath.com/bibleprophesies_rapt.php]
THE ABDUCTED BRIDE
There is the element of the Bride of Christ being 'kidnapped'. This is noteworthy because in the Hebrew marriage the groom abducts his bride!
Rosh Hashanah: The Wedding of the Messiah [excerpt from The Seven Festivals of the Messiah by Edward Chumney]:
...The bridegroom would return with a shout, "Behold, the bridegroom comes" and the sound of the ram's horn (shofar) would be blown...
He would abduct his bride, usually in the middle of the night, to go to the bridal chamber where the marriage would be consummated. This is the full marriage, known in Hebrew as nesu'in...
The bride and groom will go to the wedding chamber, or chadar in Hebrew, where the marriage will be consummated. They will stay in that wedding chamber for seven days, or a week. At the end of the seven days, the bride and groom will come out from the wedding chamber...
The word week in Hebrew is shavuah. It means a "seven." It can mean seven days or seven years. An example of the Hebrew word for week (shavuah) meaning seven years can be found in Daniel 9:24, as it is written, "Seventy weeks [shavuah, 490 years] are determined upon thy people..." and in 9:27, "And he [the false Messiah known as the antichrist] shall confirm the covenant with many for one week [shavuah, seven years]...." The week referred to in Daniel 9:27 is known to Bible believers as the tribulation period. The Jewish people understand this time to be the birthpangs of the Messiah known in Hebrew eschatology as the Chevlai shel Mashiach. This is taken from Jeremiah 30:5-7. [Source: edchumney-waytozion.org]
Ah, weddings! So beautiful--so full of anticipation! In his August 4, 2016, video (https://youtu.be/9-hnFsLv0_A) Daniel Valles shares how we are actually in the Hebrew month of Elul. The letters that form the spelling of this month are an acronym for the verse in Song of Solomon 6:3--
I [am] my beloved's, and my beloved [is] mine... - Song 6:30 KJV
ELUL--HARVEST
Not only that, but Elul actually means "harvest" as well! For further encouragement, watch Daniel's August 6, 2016, Radar Update (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBFTPcooDdI) in which he explains how we are still in the time frame of the Sign of Shiloh and that this sign, as well as the Revelation 12 Sign of the Woman, will not be repeated in this LAST GENERATION in which we are living. All I can say is--
Woo-hoo!!
Caveat: This blog is an attempt to
share my spiritual journey and my understanding of the Scriptures. In the past
few years that learning curve has been mostly in eschatology or the study of
the end times. I do not pretend to
have this all figured out. Also, I do not necessarily agree with all the
beliefs of anyone whose material I reference. I seek to be led of the Spirit of
God as to the sources I use, however, even Spirit-filled Christians only 'see
in part' as it says in 1 Corinthians 13:12.
