(Isaiah 16-18; Ephesians 1)

In Scripture, we’re told that there are multiple mysteries of God. The classic definition of a Biblical mystery is that it’s something that is concealed in the Old Testament and revealed in the New.

One of the most amazing mysteries to which we’re introduced in the Bible is the joining of Jews and Gentiles into one people together in Christ Jesus. The OT said in many places that the Jews in Israel would be a blessing to all nations on the earth. How that would happen was never exactly described, so the ancient readers of the entire collection of writings in the Tanakh never understood that promise. They certainly had no idea that when Jesus came, He would bring the fulfillment of it to unite Jews and Gentiles through His Body, His church.

There is another mystery that flows from the goodness of God in Christ Jesus that is also mind-boggling. The verses in Ephesians 1:7-10 outline both the promise and the process:

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

This passage is chock full of descriptive words that help us understand how everything works together to fulfill the promise and reveal the mystery.

Everything that happens to bring this about is a result of Jesus and His work on the cross. It is in Him that all this begins. The blood He shed for us brings about our redemption, in other words, the ransom that must be paid. Paid for what? As Romans 3:23 tells us:

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Because we have committed many trespasses against God, we require His forgiveness, or His pardon, that frees us from the penalty we’ve incurred through our sinful disobedience. This is possible only because of the spiritual riches that Jesus has in abundance and which are given to us through His grace, i.e., His kindness and favor.

And what has Jesus done with this spiritual wealth? He has lavished it upon us. He has gone over and above in giving us His substance and prosperity beyond what we could ever expect.

Now we come to the mystery, i.e., that which can only be seen and understood through the revelation of God. It had been hidden up to the time of Paul’s writing, but through this and other NT epistles, it was made known.

God has an expansive plan of redemption. He intends to return the world to an Edenic state. We see this promise in John’s vision in Revelation 21:1:

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.”

From our current, limited, fleshly perspective, we can’t even imagine what this will be like. However, we do know a couple of things. God has a spiritual family, just as He has an earthly one. We see evidence of this family throughout Scripture in the form of the sons of God (bene Elohim), and in the various other entities we know as angels, cherubim, and seraphim. Just as on earth where believers gather to worship God as the Body of Christ, these spiritual entities come together in His presence in heaven.

This is shown in various Scriptures, such as in the gathering of the sons of God in Job 1:6, 2:1; the prophet Micaiah’s vision in 1 Kings 22:19 where a lying spirit is put into the mouths of Ahab’s prophets; and through John’s vision in Revelation 4 with the elders on their thrones and the living creatures giving God all glory, among others. These heavenly assemblies are what are known as Divine Council scenes. They show a gathering of the spiritual entities that inhabit heaven and which are all part of His divine family.

We know that God has a spiritual family and a human family that are today separate and distinct. But God has a plan for the fullness of time. Can we even begin to comprehend this? The day is coming that He will unite all things in Him. Who or what? Things in heaven and on earth.

To put it another way, God will bring together these two families into one at the future point when He creates the New Heavens and the New Earth. This is beyond the Millennial Reign of Christ. During that 1,000-year period, believers who have been Raptured will have glorified bodies, i.e., we will be like Jesus (1 John 3:2). Moreover, at that time, God will give us the responsibility of judging angels that have rebelled against Him (1 Corinthians 6:3).

However, God’s ultimate plan goes far beyond these things. He will bring the divine and the glorified together, united as one single family. In this new reality, much work will be required. Presumably, the new Eden will need taming just as the original paradise did. After a couple of million years of this combined family effort, God will surely continue to keep us busy, perhaps among the stars; who knows?

The one thing we can be assured of is that God will give us good and pleasant meaningful work, along with any rest we need. Paul sums up this promise in Ephesians 1:11:

“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.”

In fact, as Paul concludes in Ephesians 1:13-14:

“… In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

God’s seal of promise – His Holy Spirit – is our guarantee that He will accomplish all that He has planned and purposed – to His glory!

[Author Note: Briefly, I want to set the stage for you as to the nature of most of my articles in this season. Each year I read the Bible through completely at least once – that has been my practice since I came to the Lord in 2005. I remain astounded at what God has done in my life because of that discipline! Each day I read from both the Old and New Testaments. I choose a verse from one of those passages and write my commentary and reflection based on that. In the title of my article, you’ll see the verse I chose. In addition, you’ll see the reading for that day if you’d like to follow along with greater context.]

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Gary W. Ritter is a lay pastor, Bible teacher, and prolific author. His Whirlwind Series comprises three books: Sow the Wind, Reap the Whirlwind, and There Is A Time. These books are contained in the collected volume of the Whirlwind Omnibus. Gary has been given the Christian Redemptive Fiction award for three novels: The Tattooed Cat, Alien Revelation, and for his collaboration with Terry James in writing The Minion Protocols, the third book in James’ Second Coming Chronicles.

Earlier this year, Gary released a four-volume set of Awaken Bible Study Notes that comment verse-by-verse through Scripture from a Biblical prophetic lens. He is currently editing a sequel to Alien Revelation called Alien Zombie Plague, which he plans to release later in the fall of 2021. Recently, Gary wrote a novella for the new Kindle Vella platform. That story is called Tribulation Rising: Seal Judgments – The Coming Apocalypse. This seven-part short work can be found at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099Z462WD.

Each day this year, Gary has been writing commentary and reflections based on his reading through the Bible in a year. The intent in all his writings is to bring a strong Christian witness to what people read. You can see all his books and blog articles and reach him at his website:www.GaryRitter.com or his Facebook Author page: https://www.facebook.com/gritter3390. You can also see his older video Bible teachings on his Gary Ritter YouTube channel – look for the fish symbol, and more recently on Rumble on his Awaken Bible Prophecy channel: https://rumble.com/c/c-783217.

COMING OF THE SON OF MAN

In the Matthew account of the Olivet discourse, Jesus is definitely revealing details of his ‘coming’ again (after his death and resurrection) to set up His Millennium Kingdom and the events and signs that precede it. The disciples understood this upcoming event simply as His “coming into His Kingdom,” not as His “second coming” as believers do in this age.

Jesus himself called it the “coming of the Son of Man,” and the term is used five times in Matthew 24. In three of these verses (27, 37, and 39), the Greek word for coming is parousia, which means advent, presence, a being near, or a coming. In the other two verses in Matthew 24 (30, 44), the Greek word for coming is erchomenon, meaning to come, go; to come from one place into another. It is widely used in the Bible in a general sense of people traveling from one place to another.

Primarily, the word parousia refers to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It can refer to either His Second Coming/Advent to the earth at the end of the 7-year Tribulation or to His coming in the sky to rapture His Church prior to the Tribulation. The Second Coming parousia is a visible event that the whole world will witness. The Rapture is an invisible parousia, which no unbeliever that is left behind will witness.

Some examples of Second Coming parousia are Matthew 24:27, 2 Peter 1:16, 1 Thessalonians 3:13, and 2 Peter 3:4. It’s interesting to note that the word parousia is only used in the Matthew account of the Olivet discourse. In Mark and Luke, the word erchomenon is used instead, although it is clear that the Second Coming is the context of these verses, as Jesus is ‘coming’ from heaven to the earth.

Some examples of rapture parousia are 1 Corinthians 15:23, 1 Thessalonians 2:19 and 5:23, James 5:8, 1 John 2:28, and 1 Thessalonians 4:15.

Now we come to the pivotal verse of Matthew 24:36. “But of that day and (or) hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” I believe this verse and the following verses (37-51) are the answer to Jesus’ second question (what will be the sign of your coming?). The pre-tribulation Rapture, as represented by the hour, is the supernatural 7th sign that Jesus will come again to set up His Millennial Kingdom. It will occur at least 7 years before the Second coming. The Day of the Lord is when God/Jesus Christ intervenes in the affairs of mankind at the end of the age.

Hosea, the Old Testament prophet, spoke of these end times. “Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he has torn, and he will heal us; he has smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us: in the third day 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; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth” (Hosea 6:1-3). I believe this ‘rain’ is a typology of Jesus’ coming to the earth at his first and second advent.

Day 1 is the age of grace. It started with the giving of the Holy Spirit to Jesus’ apostles at Pentecost (start of the Church) and will end with the Rapture of the saints (end of the Church). Day 2 is the Day of the Lord. It will start with the pre-tribulation Rapture and will end with the Second Coming of Jesus to the earth. Day 3 consists of the 1000-year reign of Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords over all the nations of the earth. For more information, see: But of that Day and Hour – Part 2 | Rapture Forums

The Olivet discourse of Matthew, Mark, and Luke refers to Day 2 of Hosea’s prophecy, with the Coming of the Son of Man at the pre-tribulation Rapture (Matthew 24:37-51) and then the Coming of the Son of Man at the Second Advent (Matthew 24:1-29). The Rapture is the first hour of the Day of the Lord. It is part one of two parts of the “coming of the Son of Man.”

THE RAPTURE IN THE FOURTH GOSPEL OF JOHN?

John the apostle and author of the books of John and Revelation (as well as 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John), quoting Jesus, had this to say about the hour of the resurrection of the dead that occurs at the Rapture. “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life [at the Rapture]; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” [at the Great White Throne Judgment] (John 5:25-29).

The great resurrection of the dead in Christ will occur at the time of the Rapture. All those who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ during the Church Age (Pentecost to the Rapture) will be resurrected at the Rapture. At this point, chronologically speaking, Jesus didn’t mention the ‘harpazo’ of the Rapture, only the resurrection of the dead. Harpazo is the Greek word for “caught up” as mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. “The English word ‘rapture‘ comes from a Latin word, ‘rapio‘, which means to seize or snatch in relation to an ecstasy of spirit or the actual removal from one place to another. In other words, it means to be carried away in spirit and or in body. The Rapture of the church means the carrying away of the church from earth to heaven.” {1}

The first time Jesus mentions the harpazo, in my opinion, is in John 11:25-26. Jesus was speaking to Martha in regard to her brother’s (Lazarus) death and his resurrection to come. Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.”

These three sentences aptly describe the Rapture. In the first sentence, Jesus calls attention to Himself as the power that resurrects the dead believers. The second sentence could be in reference to the resurrection of the Old Testament saints and Tribulation martyrs that occur at the Second Coming, but I believe it is a reference to the Rapture. “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). The third sentence, “Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die,” is proof that He is talking about the Rapture. “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them [resurrected dead] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

Jesus’ next laconic teaching of the Rapture occurs a few days before the Passover and his crucifixion. It is recorded in John 14:1-3 and is revealed in only three verses. “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

These three references to the Rapture, found in the fourth gospel of John, set the precedent that the pre-tribulation Rapture was taught (however vague) by Jesus to his disciples in the gospel accounts, including the Olivet discourse. All of the teachings in these verses of the gospels by Jesus to his disciples occurred during the last week of Jesus’ life, called the “passion of Christ.” Jesus didn’t go into great detail regarding this great mystery but merely mentioned it, so later (after his death, resurrection, ascension, and the giving of the Holy Spirit), the disciples would remember it and write down the words Jesus spoke.

RAPTURE IN THE OLIVET DISCOURSE?

Matthew 24:37-39 compares the coming of the Son of Man to the days of Noah. So, which ‘coming’ (parousia) are these verses referring to, the Second Coming or the Rapture? To me, they sound exactly like what will happen in the pre-tribulation Rapture. The activities that are mentioned (eating, drinking, marrying, and given in marriage in the days of Noah; also in Luke 17, they sold, they planted, they built in the days of Lot) are all normal daily activities that seem unlikely in the end days of the Great Tribulation, when people will just be trying to survive. “And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened” (Matthew 24:22).

Matthew 24:39 says that the ungodly people of Noah’s day “did not know” of the impending disaster until the flood (antediluvian’s tribulation) took them away. How can the survivors of the Tribulation not know Jesus is coming again (Second Coming) in judgment and punishment after the cataclysmic seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments? Also, the message of the Kingdom of God will be preached to all the world by the 144,000 Jewish evangelicals and by the angel of Revelation 14, who will preach the everlasting gospel “to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people.”

In contrast, it will be business as usual during the days before the pre-tribulation Rapture. “Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:3-4).

The great flood is a typology of the Tribulation. The days of Noah represent the evil days and people before the Tribulation (including the days before the rapture). The ark represents the pre-tribulation Rapture. It represents safety from judgment or an escape from the Tribulation. Luke 21:36 says, “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” There is no means of escape from the Tribulation after the Rapture other than death. Noah and his family represent the righteous (in God’s eye) saints that God allows to escape the coming apocalypse.

Of course, the unbelieving doomed citizens of the antediluvian age (whom the flood came and took them all away) represent the ones who will perish during the Tribulation. They have waited too long to get on board the ark (Rapture) to escape the great flood (Tribulation).

Let’s examine the next two verses of Matthew 24. “Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left” (Matthew 24:40-41). Are these verses talking about the pre-tribulation Rapture or the Second Coming? To me, it sounds more likely that they are rapture events, where Jesus takes (catches up, seizes, snatches) the believer and leaves the unbeliever. If, on the other hand, they are talking about the Second Coming, several problems arise. Even if conditions in some parts of the earth are capable of producing crops, after all the judgments from God that destroy most of the land, which one (worker) is taken and which one is left? The Bible doesn’t actually say.

Mister Walvoord believes the unbelievers are taken and the believers are left. “At the second coming of Christ, the saved remain on earth, and the unsaved are taken away in judgment at the beginning of the millennial kingdom. The very word taken away in Matthew 24:40-41 is used of Christ being taken away to the cross, obviously being taken in judgment as used here (as per John 19:16).” {2}

If this is true, it presents a problem in the next chapter (Matthew 25) where all the nations (peoples) that are still alive at the end of the Tribulation will be gathered before Lord Jesus, and He will separate them one from another. This is known as the sheep and goat judgment and is described in Matthew 25: 31-46. The sheep represent the saved (and the ones who help the Jews during the Tribulation). They are placed on Jesus’ right-hand side. The goats represent the unsaved (and the ones who do not help the Jews), and they are placed on Jesus’ left-hand side. The sheep survivors will inherit the kingdom of God, and the goat survivors will be thrown into the Lake of Fire.

If the ones who were taken in verses 40 and 41 are the goats, that means the ones who were left are the sheep. This begs the question, why weren’t they both taken by the angels to face Jesus at the sheep and goat judgment? If the ones who were left weren’t taken by the angels to the sheep and goat judgments, how do they get to Jerusalem (where Jesus will have His throne) from all over the world?

The last three verses of Matthew 24 all talk about not knowing what hour Jesus is coming, so the people need to watch and be ready. In verse 42, He is called Lord. In verse 43, He is compared to a thief who comes unexpectedly. And in verse 44, He is called the Son of Man. I believe this hour is none other than the Rapture as taught by Paul in 1 Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53. Paul was the man that Jesus chose to reveal the details of the Rapture and thus to teach the other apostles and the entire world about this great mystery.

It is my opinion that in both the Second Parousia and the Harpazo Parousia no one will know the day or the hour Jesus will return. The Rapture is a signless and imminent event, so no one will know in advance the day or hour it occurs. Even though there are many signs for the Second Advent (including the pre-tribulation Rapture), the conditions of the earth after all of God’s judgments and the effects of war (probably some nuclear) will render the exact day and hour of the Second coming unknowable.

But come He will, and every eye will behold Him!

“Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:

KING OF KINGS AND
LORD OF LORDS.”

Randy Nettles

nettlesr@suddenlink.net

Endnotes:

{1} Bible.org – Where did the term ‘rapture’ come from?

{2} Every Prophecy of the Bible by John F. Walvoord, published by David C. Cook; pg. 383