COMING TO TERMS

COMING TO TERMS

There are many terms describing the Rapture. The more precise we can make a term, the more clearly we can see the over all picture.

As you know, many websites are referring to a SPLIT RAPTURE. This is a good term when meaning there will be 2 raptures in the end times scenario.
However, there are actually 4 Translations mentioned in the New Testament period;
the term "rapture" focuses in on only half of the glory.

"TRANSLATION", we feel, is a more descriptive word than "Rapture".
"TRANSLATION" takes more into account the Jewish Believers.
"Rapture" is not as inclusive. It focuses mainly on the Gentile Church.

A TRANSLATION basically means 'going from one state to another rapidly'.....a CHANGE.
Rapture is a more limited definition: 'going up to heaven without tasting death'.

Jesus Himself, being a Jew, used the more inclusive concept...that of TRANSLATION.
He referred to their 4 occurrences in Mark 13:35 when He said,
"Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the Master of the house cometh,
at Even
or at Midnight
or at the CockCrowing
or in the Morning."

2 of these are mainly Jewish-Messianic TRANSLATIONS..."even" and "morning"
2 of these are mainly GENTILE, and also Messianic,
"RAPTURE" and "coming as a thief".... "the midnight rapture " and "the cockcrowing rapture"

TRANSLATIONS always associated with RESURRECTION

All of these 4 concepts are associated with RESURRECTION.

1. The "even" translation occurred at the time of Jesus' own Resurrection.

2. The "midnight" rapture occurs at the Resurrection of those who slept in Messiah .....having the Blessed Hope.(Luke 1:67-79...1 Corinth. 1:7 and 2 Thess. 3:5)

3. The "cockcrowing" rapture most likely takes place at the Resurrection of the multitude no man could number (Rev. 7:14-17)

4. And the "morning" Translation (transfiguration) takes place at the Resurrection of the Just.....those who died in Faith [ of the Living God of the Scriptures ], yet not realizing or having the Blessed Messianic Hope....."the key of David" (Rev. 3:7)....the spirit of prophecy ( Rev. 19:10).
We see people of this kind around us all the day long.

For more on these Resurrections, please see the bottom of:
www.cybertime.net/~ajgood/2elul.html

FIRST TRANSLATION called "FIRSTFRUITS"....Easter Evening

The First Translation in the New Testament occurred on the EVEN of the
Crucifixion, when the graves were opened. Messianic Believers of Jesus' Day came forth from the grave with Glorified bodies and visited their friends on Easter Sunday.. Matthew 27:52 and 53...
"And the graves were opened (evening of the Crucifixion); and many bodies of the saints which slept arose. And came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the
holy city, and appeared unto many."

They ascended with Jesus on Easter evening... "Even" Luke 24: 51.
"And it came to pass while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven"
Acts 1:2 speaks of Christ's ascension from Bethany . Here Luke tells us that his former treatise
(the Gospel of Luke) ended with the Ascension of Jesus on Easter evening "until the day in which He was taken up". Luke was referring to the Bethany ascension.

These FIRSTFRUITS may also have been as a cloud of witnesses with Jesus as He ascended on Ascension Thursday.
Acts 1:9." And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld,
He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight."

"when He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive" Ephesians 4:8.
Thus are these FIRSTFRUITS ever with the Lord.

The proper term then for the 1st Translation is " FIRSTFRUIT"...
Christ was translated FIRST along with His barley sheaf of Jewish saints during the season of Firstfruits.....from the day after the Sabbath in Passover
(a Sunday...Resurrection Sunday----to just before Shavuot.....10 days before)
We know that the Lord teleported many times during those 40 days.
We hear nothing more on the barley sheaf of saints.

The term for this First Translation is "FIRSTFRUIT"...
"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the FIRSTFRUITS
of them that slept" 1 Corinthians 15: 20

First Translation = "even" = FIRSTFRUITS Leviticus 23 :10, 11

Why is it important to include this first section of the four translations ?

We believe that the 3 days from the opening of their graves on Crucifixion evening to the time that they appeared on Resurrection Sunday is significant to our Midnight Rapture. (see 7th Trumpet) .
Just as their translation involved a 3 day period, we believe our Midnight Rapture will involve a three-day period also.

A side-point:
The three RECORDED ascensions of Christ are as follows:

1. John 20:17....Christ ascended to be received by the Father early on Easter morning, and made sure that that was communicated to all by announcing this to the women who came to the grave Sunday morning.
This ascension was a private ascension.
2. Christ ascended publicly Easter evening from Bethany Luke 24:51
3. Christ ascended very publicly on Ascension Thursday from the top of the Mt. of Olives Acts. 1:9 and perhaps this is referred to in 1 Corinthians 15:6. "After that, He was seen of above 500 brethren at once."
For more on Ascension please see: www.cybertime.net/~ajgood/ascension.html

2nd Translation called " the MIDNIGHT RAPTURE" (just prior to the Great Trib)
please see "Our Blessed Hope" www.cybertime.net/~ajgood/hope.html

The term "Midnight Rapture" is obtained from the Scriptures on two occasions, both of which were a specific term used by our Lord.
He did not use the phrase "Firstfruit" when describing this scenario. That would confuse the issue with the first translation.

The term here is "Midnight" Rapture, using the exact term Jesus used twice. Mark 13:35 and Matthew 25:6 "And at midnight there was a cry made,
Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him."

The term "mid-night" is more precise because this rapture is mid-way within the Tribulation period. To be exact, it is in the "midst".....
the gap time between the first 3 1/2 years of the tribulation, and then just at the start of the Great Tribulation
(last 3 1/2 years).addendum
please see "2 Thessalonians Chapter 2" www.cybertime.net/~ajgood/2Thess.html

The specific Scripture verse for this event is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.
"For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (precede) them which are asleep.
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:
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."

The Dividing of Times

We know that in the Book of Revelation there is no referral to a continuous 7 year period. The Book of Revelation ONLY deals with a 3 1/2 year period.
However, the Old Testament Book of Daniel mentions a cluster of years, called
"shabuah"....meaning 7 years of the last prophetic week dealing with Israel.
This cluster of years is divided up, just like the preceding weeks in Daniel's' 70 week timeline are also divided up.. Daniel 9:24-27.

If you read the Addendum, then you will see that we are already in the midst of this night period which started in 1979. We are in the midst. When the trumpet blows for the saints to come home, it will be "MIDNIGHT". Then the remaining 3 1/2 years of the Great Tribulation will come.
So again, the identifying term for the 2nd translation is "MIDNIGHT."

Most Bible interpreters call this second translation "pre-trib rapture". But again that is confusing , because the tribulation has already begun in 1979.(first 3 1/2 years......followed by a GAP of time)

We are in the midst (in between) "the tribulation" (first 3 1/2 years)
and "The Great Tribulation" (last 3 1/2 years).

Therefore "pre-trib" confuses people, and does not alert them to the fact that the signing of the Peace Accords in 1979 was highly significant, and a starting point.
It also misleads people into thinking that there are 7 years of tribulation ahead of us. (when in fact there is only 3 1/2 years...the Great Tribulation).

The term "pre-trib rapture" throws the whole timing out of sync, and also falsely implies that Christians don't suffer. It is a dangerous concept because "ALL who live Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. " 2 Timothy 3:12

Our brothers and sisters in the Eastern half of the hemisphere suffer and die daily under apocalyptic conditions already. It is strangely "American" to believe in a rapture that wisks us away, before any suffering can come to us. It just isn't realistic.

"Pre-trib" implies a false concept.....the concept of never seeing suffering. A mere glance of history will show that Christians did in fact witness the deterioration of their societies crumbling around them, and they did in fact suffer and die martyr-deaths. "Pre-trib" inference can eventually breed hopelessness when reality sets in. This is a peculiarly American mind-set..

The Midnight Rapture is actually "pre-Great Trib".
It is obvious that we are IN-Trib even now.
Christians in America are already under harrassments (FCC, ACLU etc.), persecution and even martyrdom (Columbine, Peducah, Fort Worth etc.). 9-11 jolted many into the reality that Americans are vulnerable to catastophic events...and more are coming.

The only reason we escape the Great Tribulation is because of already having taken a stand for Christ, even in the midst of tribulation. So we see then that we are not "pre-trib"; we are "IN-trib". Our Midnight Rapture is pre-GREAT-Trib.

3rd Translation......called "COCKCROWING" (pre-wrath)

Admittedly, this is the most difficult translation to teach.
It is rejected for many reasons.
There are those who want to be the only ones raptured at Midnight, and they strongly resist seeing a second opportunity. The Lord's concept of forgiveness is larger than ours.
Many folks just plain don't like the word "cock-crowing"....it just
isn't academic enough for a dissertation on eschatology, if you know what I mean. Let's face it, it's just down on the farm homey-folksy talk.

Well, that may be the case, but our Lord Himself used that very term, so it's good enough for anyone else to use that term. He always talked plainly.

JV McGee said it best:
"It's plain enough that only a theologian could miss it."

Anyway, to get back to our term "Cock-crowing". This segment of time is just before dawn, the darkest period. And it is during the darkest part of the darkest period in all of history, that if any believers be left on planet earth, they get the privilege of being translated to heaven (raptured)....mainly because they just happened to be at the wrong place at the right time. (in the right spiritual condition).

This rapture-translation could possibly coincide with the Resurrection of the Great Tribulation saints of Revelation Chapter 7:14
"these are they which came out of Great Tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.",
The Blood-Washed Throng http://tch/simplenet.com/htm/b/bloodwat.htm

This Cock Crowing Rapture could most likely coincide with the Ascension of the 2 witness of Revelation Chapter 11:12.

There is another view point. We will pursue it......

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES FOR THIS PRE-WRATH TRANSLATION

In an earlier article (Chapter 5, the Sheaves
it is stated that the Midnight Rapture is knowable and the Cockcrowing-Rapture is unknowable.
The keywords used in Scripture that refer to this pre-wrath translation are "thief" and "night";
also phrases referring to not knowing the time, "hour" and the "garment" being worn.

Our Lord will come AS a "thief":

1 Thessalonians 5:2 + 4...."For yourselves know perfectly that the Day of the Lord (judgements) so cometh as a thief in the night....."But you brethren are not in darkness that that day should overtake you like a thief."
Meaning: The Church will know the time of judgements. We must pray to be counted worthy to escape them. The world will be doing business as usual, and will not realize that the end times are upon them.

Notice the word "night". This refers to the Great Tribulation.
Notice the word "day". This refers to the "Day of Christ" (Rapture)
( 2 Thess. 2:2... KJV Authorized ; there are three 2's in 2 Th 2:2.
2 is the number of division.)
There will be a great division on that day.

The "Day of Christ" (Rapture) and the "Day of the Lord" (judgement) are both
one and the same day.
For those who are alive in Christ, they will be raptured on the same day as judgements befall the half-hearted and the unbelievers. (so we believe).
"But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all." Luke 17:29

2 Peter 3:10..."The Lord will come as a thief in the night." This is a referral to a pre-wrath translation (Cockcrowing Rapture) which will occur during the time of the Great Tribulation for those who have repented, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ with a personal relationship.
(And who have NOT taken the 666 mark of the Beast).

Revelation 3 :3 "If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee."
Meaning: The Sardis church was to remain vigilant as the 5 wise virgins of Matthew 25: 1-10.
For those who are caught "sleeping" ( unobservant ) at the time of the Rapture, they will be caught off guard. Their complacency will be robbed by the thief. If they "wake up" ( realize the urgency of the times ) and repent, then our Lord will come for them later at a time and hour they know not during the Great Tribulation. He will come for them as a thief, snatching them from the hands of Antichrist.

WHITE GARMENT

The ones who are worthy to go in the Rapture from the Church of Sardis are already walking in white (Christ's righteousness PLUS their own deeds of righteousness ...Rev. 19:8)

Revelation 16:15 "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked (without his own deeds of righteousness ....Rev. 22 and James 2: 14-36 ), and they see his shame.
Meaning: Revelation 16 is deep into the Great Tribulation time period. In fact it is just before Armageddon (next verse).
Yet still the promise of deliverance is held out for those who may not have repented until this very late time. They can be delivered from the wrath to come, and be translated into the heavenly kingdom, solely by repenting and acting upon their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. That will be the final call of any remaining Church members who were caught off-guard at the time of the Midnight Rapture.

So far we have talked about the terms "thief" and "night" and "garment" to be worn.
Now we will talk about who is "taken".

TAKEN IN THAT NIGHT

"I tell you in that night (of the Great Tribulation) there shall be two men in one bed (like work camps);
the one shall be taken (translated) and the other shall be left (in the GT).

Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken (translated) and the other left (in the GT).

Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken (translated), and the other left. (in the GT).
LUKE 17: 34-36

The left-behind professing Church will be underground during the Great Tribulation and will be sparse in number.
It is highly conceivable that many people will be in captivity, work camps, prisons and other types of isolation. But God is able to snatch them out of the antichrist system at the CCR (Cockcrowing Rapture) . The CCR will be for those of contrite repentance, and who are looking for the Blessed Hope.

We see a symbolic type of this rapture in Acts 12:7-10.
In this passage we see one arising from prison, putting his garment on and leaving the first and second ward (symbolizing the first and second heaven) and arriving at the gate of the city (symbolizing the city whose foundation and Builder and Maker is God Hebrews 11:10).
That interpretation is there to be seen .

WHERE THE BODY IS, THERE WILL THE EAGLES BE GATHERED

In Luke 17:37 where Our Lord tells of one being taken and the other left, the disciples asked Him
"Where" ?. This is the answer Our Lord gave:
"Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered."

We do not believe that "eagles" here means "vultures", as so many Bibles have mistranslated.
Strong's Concordance #105 states that the root word "aetos" means "eagle" and can also be interpreted to mean " a standard" of the Roman Military. In other words:
Where the body is, there will be the New World Order surveillance. There is a surveillance system known as :

Eagle Vision www.globalsecurity.org/intell/systems/eagle_vision.htm
National Vision www.globalsecurity.org/intell/systems/national_eagle.htm

Since all translations (Raptures) in the Bible left no bodies behind (Enoch, Elijah, the Midnight Rapture) then it is probably correct to say that any Cockcrowing translations will not leave a body behind for the NWO Patrol to dispense with as it will (selling body parts etc.).

The word "body" in this passage is the Greek word "soma"... a living body. Therefore it can be concluded that where the living body is ( the one ascending upward ) , there will the "eagles"
(cameras in outer space) be gathered."

The NWO order will try to capture this event for TV and the Web. We believe that they will be successful in doing this, and that Our Lord will use this as a great witness for all those remaining. All those who witness this global translation will be given one more chance to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved, before Armageddon. Everyone has a chance to repent up to their last breath and to seek God's kingdom. The only thing that would hinder a heart-change in the Last Days is if someone took the Mark of the Beast.

" CARCASE"

In Luke 17, Our Lord used the word "body". He did not use the word "carcase" (Strong's #4430),
as He did in Matthew 24 when referring to those who die at the end of the Age.

"For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together". Matthew 24:28

That phrase refers to the death of the unbeliever ("carcase") as opposed to the translation of the
believer ("body"). Here, the carcase (the Greek word "ptoma") of the unbeliever will be left for the eagles who have come to the great supper of the global cataclysm. (please see Armageddon)
Also see Job 39:27-30

These two verses in the Bible have two different meanings, because of the terms used.
"Carcase" ("ptoma") is a negative word implying an empty casing.
"Body"("soma") is a positive term implying a living organism. The Believer never dies
(John 11:25, 26) but inherits a Glorified Body that lives eternally.

This is how we see Luke 17:37
(the above etymology was received from Cheryl Bullard ; the interpretation, this author )

JUXTAPOSITION

Juxtaposition is just a word meaning "position within a context".
In Luke 17:37 the phrase about the body and the eagles is positioned immediately following the ones being "taken" (in the rapture.)

This is not so in Matthew 24:40-42. This is the parallel passage to Luke 17:37 about one being taken and the other being left. It refers solely to a rapture. There is no mention of a carcase in this context by our Lord.

However , it is important to note that Our Lord does mention "carcase" earlier in this same Chapter 24 of Matthew when speaking of the very last of the last days. (Matthew 24:28). In other words, He does use the word "carcase" when He is not speaking about a rapture.

Certainly Our Lord Who is the Prophet among prophets could have placed "carcase" after verse 42 in Matthew 24 if He were referring to people being "taken" for death.
But by clearly differentiating these two incidences, Our Lord is underscoring the fact that those taken were taken unto life...eternal life.

The Word "Wrath"

Now why is the term "cock-crowing" more identifying than the term "pre-wrath" ? Well, simply because "wrath" refers to two different types of wrath.

One wrath is the wrath of the Lamb ( Rev. 6: 16 and 17 ). It is partial.
The other wrath is of God Almighty (Rev.16:1) and it is total.

The Midnight Rapture saints do not experience total wrath because they leave planet earth. However, the Cock-crowing people DO experience the limited wrath of the Lamb, a partial wrath, because they remain after the Midnight Rapture.
They experience the wrath of the Lamb, because as Believers they were supposed to be ready to meet the Bridegroom.
But they weren't (Matthew 25:7)

There are degrees of trust and obedience.
Now they must face the weeping and gnashing of teeth and the burning regret of not having been ready.
Now they have no guarantees. Suffering and perhaps death lie ahead. The only hope they can cling to at this point is the Cockcrowing Rapture, where they escape two things.

1. Those who go in the Cockcrowing Rapture escape the grave,
2. and they escape the wrath of God Almighty (Rev. 16:1 , the Father).
This final outpouring of wrath by the Father is upon an unbelieving world who has blatantly rejected His Son Jesus, and even disbelieve in God Himself, as Jude says in verse 15 where "ungodly" is used 4 times)

So we see then that the term "pre-wrath" confuses, since there are 2 sets of wrath, and the "pre-wrath" people actually do experience the first limited "wrath"...the wrath of the Lamb.
The people who remain in the Great Tribulation, but are rapture-translated near the time of Armageddon, are the believers who get raptured at the "Cock Crowing".
The Cock / Rooster always crows just before dawn.
What better term to use, then the one our Lord Himself used ?

4th Translation.....MORNING ---- Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ

"at His appearing"....1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Tim. 1:10; 4:1; 4:8; Titus 2:13;
1 Peter 1:7; 1 Peter 5:4; Colossians 3:4; Hebrews 9:28; 1 John 2:28;
and 1 John 3:2.
The above verses testify to the fact that this "morning-remnant" will receive Glorified Bodies (be transfigured) at the return of Jesus Christ.

"Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ "
"Baruch haba ba'Shem Adonai Yeshua Ha'Mashiach "

In these 4 translations, we notice that they begin with the Messianic Church
(FIRSTFRUITS) and end with the Messianic Church, (MORNING)
sort of like book ends to the New Testament period.
"Elusive Dove" and "History's Darkest Hour" are about this period of time when the woman Israel (Messianic Jews) are protected by God in the wilderness for 3 1/2 years of the Great Tribulation Rev. 12:14.

Having been cocooned, these Messianic Believers--- the Remnant--- will now come forth from the earth as Mark tells us in Mark 13:27.
"And then shall He send His angels, and shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth, to the uttermost part of heaven."

They will come to the light of day as the Day-Star rises 2 Peter 1 :19"
as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts."

Jesus calls Himself the "bright and MORNING STAR" Rev. 22:16

The specific verse for this MORNING TRANSLATION is found in
1 Corinthians 15:51, 52.
"Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,(transfigured)
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible (the resurrection of the just) , and we shall be changed."

There is no mention here of being "caught up".

Actually these verses have a double-application. They can refer to the Midnight Rapture and/or they can refer to the MORNING TRANSLATION.

The Messianic-Remnant also undergo a physical bodily change. They are transfigured from mortal bodies to glorified immortal bodies in the twinkling of an eye.

"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.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory?
1 Corinthians 15: 53, 54.

(see also Hosea 13:14..
"I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death."

This MORNING TRANSLATION is more like the Transfiguration where Christ was bodily changed before the apostles' eyes.
(Matthew 17:1-9; Mark 9: 2- 10; and Luke 9:28-36

These transfigured ones will be joined by the Old Testament Messianic believers who have now Resurrected (Resurrection of the Just) , as found in Daniel 12: 2
"And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life".
Then in Daniel 12: 13 the Lord tells Daniel
"But go thou thy way till the end be:
for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days."

"and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, (Shofar HaGidol)
and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Matthew 24:30 and 31

For more on "Shofar HaGidol" please see "Elul"
www.cybertime.net/~ajgood/2elul.html and www.cybertime.net/~ajgood/elul.html

Other references to consider are Hosea 6:2, 3
"After two days will He revive us: in the third day ("Yom Shlishi") He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight. Then shall we know if we follow on to know the LORD; His going forth is prepared as the MORNING."

Malachi 4:2 "But unto you that fear My Name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings."

Thus we see that there are 4 Translations and they are accurately termed:
"Even"," Midnight", "Cock Crowing" and "Morning", just exactly as Christ Himself termed them in Mark 13:35.

Even.....emphasis = ascension
midnight......emphasis = rapture
cock crowing..... emphasis = garment
................................Matt. 22:11,12; Acts 12:7-10 ; Rev. 16:15; REV. 19:8
..............................."the righteousness of the saints"
morning....emphasis = change; transfiguration to Glorified Bodies

All are related to the concept of RESURRECTION
and the receiving of our Glorified Bodies.

Philip in Acts 8:39 represents the trans-portation we will experience in our new glorified bodies.(translated-saints during the millennial reign of Christ)
"the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.
But Philip was found at Azotus."

Some call this "tele-portation"...being able to space-travel without the constraints of physics and gravity.

"We Shall All Be Changed"...lori fiechter
http://www.onlyinternet.net/lori/poems2001b.htm#We%20Shall%20All%20be%20Changed

Articles on the Rapture:

Enoch and Elijah ...proven in Scripture

Sheaves .... evening, midnight, cockcrowing and morning

The Blessed Hope ...false doctrine of immanency

Coming to Terms .... explaining the words used for raptures

2 Thessalonians 2 .... man of sin sitting in temple first, before the rapture

The Cockcrowing Rapture ......" one will be taken and the other left "