Table of Contents
- Table of Contents
- Introduction: Not Destined for Wrath
- The Rapture: Our Gathering to Him
- The Resurrection and Transformation
- The Bema Seat Judgment
- The Jewish Wedding Picture
- The Church in Heaven – Revelation 4
- Foreshadowed in the Fall Feasts
Introduction: Not Destined for Wrath
1 Thessalonians 5:9 “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Revelation 3:10 “I also will keep you from the hour of the testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world.”
Isaiah 26:20–21 “Come, My people, enter your rooms and close your doors behind you; hide for a little while until indignation runs its course…”
The Church is not appointed to wrath, judgment, or the Day of the Lord. Instead, believers await the blessed hope—Christ’s return for His bride.
The Rapture: Our Gathering to Him
1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven… the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive… will be caught up… to meet the Lord in the air.”
John 14:1–3 “I go to prepare a place for you… I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”
Matt. 24:36 “Of that day and hour no one knows… only the Father alone.”
This is a personal, sudden, and joyful reunion—not a wrathful event. We are caught up (Greek: harpazō) to be with the Lord forever.
The Resurrection and Transformation
1 Corinthians 15:51–52 “We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.”
Hebrews 11:39–40 “…so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.”
Old Testament saints and the Church are made perfect together. This is a corporate glorification of the Bride.
The Bema Seat Judgment
2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…”
1 Corinthians 4:5 “…each person’s praise will come to him from God.”
Revelation 22:12 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me…”
This judgment is for rewards, not condemnation. Believers receive crowns (2 Tim. 4:8, James 1:12, 1 Pet. 5:4).
The Jewish Wedding Picture
Genesis 24 – Abraham sends a servant (Holy Spirit) to find a bride (Rebekah) for Isaac (Son). John 14:2–3 – Jesus prepares a place in the Father’s house.
- The bride is fetched (Rapture)
- 7 days in the Father’s house (prefigures 7-year Tribulation)
- Return to the bride’s home with the Groom (Second Coming)
The Church in Heaven – Revelation 4
Revelation 4:1 – “After these things… a door standing open in heaven…”
- 24 elders: redeemed humans
- White garments: righteousness of saints
- Crowns: rewards already received (cf. Rev. 3:11)
- 7 Spirits of God (Isa. 11:2) present before the throne
This is the Church in heaven before the seals are opened in Revelation 5.
Foreshadowed in the Fall Feasts
Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) – Gathering of the saints, announced by trumpet (1 Thess. 4:16) Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) – National repentance, affliction (Zech. 12:10) Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) – Messiah dwelling with His people (Zech. 14:16–19)
The fall feasts prophetically outline:
- Rapture (Trumpets)
- Tribulation (Atonement)
- Messianic Kingdom (Tabernacles)
