I am new here and would like to add my 2 cents worth. I don't belong to a church or follow any doctrines but I read the scriptures and study the wording in its original text and compare to the Hebrew text. I have a paper I put together on this topic.
I’m sure you’ve heard over and over again in churches all over the world, that when the Messiah returns we will all be whisked away into the sky, and taken to a place of safety while the Son of God puts Satan and the false prophets and all the evil doers into the pit of Hell.
Have you ever studied your world history pertaining to the fall of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the dark ages? Do you have a spiritual ear to hear and a willingness to learn the truth? Research over the years reveals the rapture teaching‑ or theory‑ is reported to have one of few origins. The most popular supposition is that the rapture teaching began over 175 years ago in Great Britain during one of the meetings of a fundamentalist group named the Plymouth Brethren. It is reported that during this meeting, a woman rose up and exclaimed that the Holy Ghost had informed her in a dream that when the tribulation came upon the earth, all the believers in Messiah would be taken into heaven and thereby escape the ensuing holocaust. The singular experience of this woman, as is told, was accepted with enthusiasm, thus giving birth to the teaching of the 'rapture' of the saints. What If I told you that the rapture of the church had already happened more than a thousand years earlier, would you be willing to listen to me?, or throw this article away and go about your way thinking I’m some kind of a nut. I can only hope that you will be open enough to listen to the facts from history and what the Bible has to say.
Let’s start with the definition of the word rapture,
1: The state of being rapt [carried away with lofty emotion] or transported; ecstatic joy; ecstasy. 2: An expression of excessive delight. {Webster’s contemporary dictionary}. The word rapture is not used in the scriptures, so we must use the dictionary to find its meaning. So now we can see it’s an emotional feeling, rather than an actual lifting of the body or soul. OK, so now what does the Bible say you must be asking? Well let’s turn in the Bible and see what it has to say, In Matthew, 24:30 all the Tribes [races] of the earth mourn, and they shall see the SON OF MAN coming in the CLOUDS OF HEAVEN with power and great glory. 24:31 and They [ the tribes] shall gather together His [the Messiah] elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matthew, 26:64 Hereafter (from now on) shall ye see the SON OF MAN sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the CLOUDS OF HEAVEN. Acts, 1:9 and A cloud received him out of their sight. 1:11 why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Have you noticed the use of the word cloud? Let’s take a close look at the word cloud and what this word means;
1: A mass of visible vapor or particles floating in the atmosphere.
2: Any cloudlike mass, as of birds, dust, steam, etc.
3: Something that obscures. {Webster’s contemporary dictionary}
Now let’s look at some of the ways the word cloud is used in the scriptures; turn if you will to Exodus, 13:21 and the Spirit of God went before them by day in a pillar of A CLOUD, to lead them the way. 14:20-21 and the Angel of God came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was A CLOUD and darkness to them. Exodus, 19:9 and God said unto Moses, Lo I come unto thee in A THICK CLOUD, that the people may hear when I speak with thee,. Are you starting to get a picture here, the cloud is God Himself. Yahweh, [God] is a spirit and as such deals with spirit, but in order for man to see, He must create A CLOUD like mass for us to see HIM. Christ said that no man [flesh] can enter into the realm of the spirit. OK you say, that proves your point, Christ is coming in a cloud. What I’m trying to point out is that the CLOUD here is a SPIRIT, not flesh. We can also see that cloud {s} doesn’t necessarily mean a literal cloud in the sky.
Light In John 1:4
the Word was Yasha. In HIM was life, and the life was the LIGHT of man.
Light in John 8:12
Yasha said { I am the Light of the world}
Light in John 9:5
as long as I am in the world, I am the Light Now let’s take a look at history, (remember the dark ages{Encyclopedia Britannica refers to it as being a period of intellectual darkness and barbarity} taught in history, this time period was from approximately 400-500AD until 1400-1500AD.) The teaching of Yasha and the Kingdom of Yah ended with the fall of the Roman Empire which history shows to have been about 350-400AD, this is when the church was taken away. Revelation 2:2-3 says for a 1000 yrs. the devil would be put into the abyss [that was during this the Dark Ages time period]. 2 Cor. says that Satan comes as light, so if he is removed, then there was NO light in the world (no light from Christ or from Satan}. Light means in this instance understanding or lack of ). 2 Cor.11, even the devil appears as light.
It wasn’t until the early church opened up its doors to all people that scriptural understanding came back into (Yasha’s light) the world. Put your spiritual eyes on and your spiritual ears to use and listen with an open mind. In Revelation it speaks of a time that the Devil would be locked up and the church [spiritually speaking] would be taken away for a thousand years. Check your history, no man had access to the holy scriptures except the monks in the early (universal) church, and even if they (man) could have gotten a hold of a copy they would not have been able to read them anyway, illiteracy was common among all commoners, and only the wealthy and the monks and priests where educated Furthermore all the text had been locked away and the people were taught from Latin. Christian teaching had stopped. The early church had become so corrupted , and false teachings had so heavily taken over, that the holy wars broke out all over the land. You might say that was the influence of the devil that caused all of that, well, if you will look in your Bible at Rev.20:1-3. Satin is cast into the bottomless pit, for a thousand years, not the false prophet, nor the man of sin (it is hard to remember we are dealing with “SPIRIT”). Remember that in the final end the false prophet and the man of sin are also put in the pit with the devil. This scripture makes no mention of any one other that the devil himself.
The preachers also a long with the rapture story, tell of going to a wedding of the church and the Messiah in Heaven. Well I hope you weren’t planning on going, sorry, but it too has already happened. If you will turn in your Bible to Luke 12:35-38. When HE [the Messiah] returns, He will be returning from His wedding.
One other point of interest, Yasha is not going to return until His enemy is made His foot stool. Psalms 110:1, The Lord [Yah] says to my Lord [the Messiah], Sit you at My right hand, until I make thine enemies thy foot stool.
Matt. 24:21-30, For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of this world.... Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, the moon will be dark, and the stars shall fall, Then shall appear the sign, they shall see the Son of Man coming with power and great glory. Luke 21:31-34, when you see these things come to pass, know that the Kingdom of God is now at hand. This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
Many believers in this day will die of starvation, pestilence, or the sword, because they believed Yahweh would take them out of the earth before all these terrible events occurred. This is sad, but true. Many more will die of fear, simply because Yahweh's judgments will be so fierce in the earth. Evidence of this fact is found in the writings of the major and minor prophets of the old testament. Read the accounts of Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Amos, Obadiah, and Micah, to name a few. Yahweh's pattern remains the same: He removes the wicked but preserves the righteous in His time of tribulation (judgment). He did not remove Noah and his family from the earth in the time of the great Deluge. He preserved them in the flood. Yahweh did not remove Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the tribulation of the fire in the furnace. He preserved them in the fire. Yahweh did not remove Daniel from the lion's den. He preserved him in the den. Yahweh did not remove Yasha from the tribulation of the cross, He preserved him unto full resurrection glory. In all tribulation, therefore, Yahweh has proven to preserve those who are 'caught up' in Him: those whose spirits are fastened on Him in love, adoration, and obedience. This is the one and only escape that will be afforded His people in the days ahead. When the lights go out, will Yasha be your light? When there's no food on the table, will Yasha be your bread? If nuclear war breaks out, will Yasha be your shelter or will the rapture be to you a bitter end?
Yahweh spoke it well when He said to Daniel, Many shall be made purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand", Daniel 12:10. See, understand, and hear what saith the Spirit.
So you see people, the rapture story is just a false tale. 2Peter 1:19-21, We have also a more sure word of prophecy; Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy come not by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
You have to remember Christ talked not only to the multitudes, but also to the disciples in parables, and the book of Revelation was not to be sealed. If Christ had wanted everyone to know what He was saying, He would have spelled it out plainly. Now we are in, I believe, to be the last days spoken of by Yasha. He has given us His written word, to read and study, the Holy Spirit to help us in finding the truth, to see and understand. Now it is up to us to put together the pieces of the puzzle, remember, Isa. 28:10, For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: verse 9, Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. {Church doctrine}
References; Hebrew Bible, KingJames Bible
excerpts from:
The Rapture-Another Lie by Mary Jaqua
Rapture Theory of Margaret McDonald from Feb.-April, 1830 byLavern Tucker
