The Apostle Paul’s directive to his son in the faith, Timothy, in 2 Timothy 2:15 carries tremendous importance and impact for any who would embark on a serious study of the Holy Bible. He exhorts Timothy:

“Study to show yourself approved of God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of God.”

Let’s let that sink in, firmly.

Approval of God is at stake here, he indicates, and personal shame is a consequence if one does not rightly divide the word of God.  The directive to “rightly divide the word” tells us that there are divisions, or partitions, in the Word of God, indicating and supporting the concept of dispensations, or periods of time in which God’s overall plan as it relates to mankind differs in manner and content. (That is my layman’s understanding of that Scripture.)

How does one not rightly divide the Word? By picking and choosing to place various prophetic events, past and future, in different periods of history, contrary to the evidence of historical reality. Here is an example. I once picked up on a television program in which the speaker, allegedly a Jewish Christian, was speaking on the clear evidence that the apostasy of the church is currently underway, as Paul described it in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, that was the speaker’s  stopping point.

I don’t recall him making reference to the revealing of the man of sin that is mentioned as a result of the falling away of believers. So, I sent an email asking why he did not continue the context that ultimately leads to the “removal of the restrainer” who is holding back that gradual encroachment of evil over all people of the world. He replied that he did not believe that was in the same time frame as the falling away, but that it actually happened back in the thirteenth Century—an interplay between Rome and the Catholic Church. Yet, in the context, the revealing of the man of sin is the result, which is followed by his taking over the temple and proclaiming himself God.

That did not happen before the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. and has not happened to this day, for there is no temple, yet, for him to take over. This is still future. Bottom line is that God is not a God of confusion, and rightly dividing the Word of God makes sense of it. A straight forward understanding of the context is that a falling away of faith toward God (you can see it happening now) leads to the removal of the body of Christ—the true church— in whom the Holy Spirit lives and restrains against the evil encroachment of the devil. Then he is revealed to those left behind, upon whom he, the devil, has total and unrestrained access. Given what we see already, it will not be pretty!

One can readily see, I think, the broader “partitions” in the plan of God, which is essentially, the Word of God to Man.  We see the broad periods before the law, under the law, and now, under grace. And, future, the millennium under the rule of Christ—a theocracy—and finally, the eternity promised. One segment leads to a higher revelation of God’s identity—character, attributes, person, etc., and His plan for bringing mankind into a proper relationship to Him, long-term.

For example, the dispensation of the law with its unwavering requirements shows us the unwavering holiness of God and our lack of ability to meet that requirement without His provision of mercy and grace. His perfection in holiness and our total degradation in sin and rebellion, then, is the summation.

That period is marked by the rigid requirements of regular blood and other sacrifices that now are called foreshadows of the coming of that perfect sacrifice, Jesus, the Lamb of God. See Hebrews 10 for this. Another important point for that era is the fact that the Holy Spirit did not indwell believers. John 14:17 tells us, in Jesus’ words, “…now He is with you, but then He will be in you.” Yes, even under the law, “the just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4), and before he was renamed to be the founder of the Hebrew nation, Abram “believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6).

How the Law Points Us to Grace

John 1:17 tells us, “For the Law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

It’s another evidence of a division in the Word of God’s dealing with mankind. By foreshadowing that which was to come, while establishing that foundation of grace and faith in the Christ who was to come, the law provided a very necessary factor in sinful man’s relationship with God.

Romans 3:20 tells us that by the law sin is made known, and Romans 6:14 tells us this: “…sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.”

Thus is shown the purpose of the law and its continuing ministry to the world, even today, and God’s solution for believers in this dispensation of grace.  In this article I want to bring together some truths of Scripture that “rightly dividing the Word of God” and will clear up some misunderstandings that may have been missed due to our tendency to follow what someone else has told us, instead of following the rule of those of Berea, as in Acts 17:11:

“These (of Berea) were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”

In Hebrews 10:1-2 we see another indication of a division in the Word. It says this:

“For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect, for then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins.”

A shadow is an announcement of a reality that is coming, as in this case the law is the shadow and Christ is the reality.  The sacrifices called for by the laws of Moses were not the real solution to the sin problem, but the coming “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” as John the Baptist called Him (John 1:29), was to fulfill that call for reality made by its shadow.

Now, let’s look at a specific doctrine that brought this matter of rightly dividing the word and its connection to  dispensational truths into sharp focus for me. We are told that we are to worship God on the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, because that is one of the Ten Commandments God gave Moses on the holy mountain. So bold is that doctrine among its followers some would hold that our failure to keep it may well cost us our eternal redemption.

Jesus told the devil at the temptation incident, “It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). So, if the law is a

shadow of the reality that is to come (Hebrews 10:1-2), are there select laws that are not a shadow of the reality to come?

Hebrews 10 goes on to describe the inadequacy of the sacrifice of bulls and goats to cleanse one of sin permanently. Thus, it must be repeated over and over. But the blood of Christ, the coming reality, was to be the true sacrifice that could and would do it, because it was [is] eternal, thus constant in time. And you say, “this had to do with temple sacrifices.”

What about the Ten Commandments, in which no mention of sacrifices is made?

What did the commandment to observe the Sabbath actually foreshadow?  And, did Christ fulfill it?  After the creation was completed, God rested on the seventh day, and He wants us to share His rest with Him. Is that too simple or not spiritual enough? The problem is that “resting in the Lord” is a faith issue, not a day of the week issue. Hebrews 4:10 sums it up quite neatly:

“For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his [own] works as God did from His”. In the context it tells of Israel’s failure to enter into that rest because of unbelief.”

So, if the fourth commandment is yet to be followed in its seventh day observance under threat of eternal damnation,  of what future reality is it shadowing?  Paul writes to the Colossians:

“So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance [reality] is of Christ (Colossians 2:16-17).

Does more need to be said? Yes, just this: “And he said unto them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28).

In Part Two, of this topic we will look at the shadowy implications of this concept in another area of biblical interpretation that hovers over us in these last days

What is the Rapture?

The two central passages in reference to the Rapture are as follows:

“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:50-53).

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

At one point yet future, the Lord Jesus will descend from heaven into the atmosphere. He will first resurrect those who have died in Christ, that is, deceased Church Age believers. An instant later, the bodies of those in Christ who are alive at that moment will likewise be translated (changed) or transformed into heavenly bodies, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (twinkling. Gr. rhipe, rhee-pay.’ A quick movement.) and will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air to always be with the Lord from that time forth. Though all of the events from the descent of the Lord through the catching up of the saints into heaven may be thought of as the Rapture, the actual catching up of the saints is the Rapture proper.

One thing we must note: Neither the passages we’ve already reviewed nor any other passage shows any indication that the Rapture is to be taken symbolically or allegorically. Scripture straightforwardly presents it as a literal event involving literal resurrections and translations and instant bodily removal of the saints to meet the Lord in the clouds.

The Timing of the Rapture

Jesus declared, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone” (Matthew 24:36); but there are passages that locate it relative to other events or periods of time.

Scripture Teaches a Pre-Tribulation Rapture

Prophetic Placements in the Feasts of Israel

In Leviticus 23 and elsewhere, God enjoined Israel under the Law to observe seven annual feasts, each of which carries prophetic significance, and which together constitute a blueprint for God’s plan from Calvary to the Millennial Kingdom. They are divided into spring and summer festivals with a significant summer hiatus between. Here they are in summary.

The Spring Festivals

1) Passover (Leviticus 23:5) is prophetic of the crucifixion of Jesus, and .
. .
2) Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6-8) speaks of the sinlessness of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God. “Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7).

3) Firstfruits (Leviticus 23:9-14) is prophetic of the Jesus’ resurrection. “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20).

4) Pentecost (Leviticus 23:15-21) is prophetic of the formation of the church. Part of the Levitical ceremony consisted of the simultaneous offering of two leavened (sinful) loaves (Leviticus 23:17). On the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, the Spirit baptized two sinful “loaves” into one body: For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles (1 Corinthians 12:13) that He might make the two into one new man (Ephesians 2:15).

The Summer Hiatus

After prescribing the four spring festivals and before prescribing the three fall festivals to begin four months later, the Lord declared, “When you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy and the alien (Leviticus 23:22).

This seems completely out of context. What was the Lord up to here? Jesus said to His disciples, “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest?” Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest” (John 4:35).

Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits and Pentecost have all been fulfilled, and now is the season for us, Jesus’ disciples, to make disciples of all the nations (Matthew 28:19) and thereby bring in the harvest for Him. (See also the Parable of the Sower: Matthew 13:3-9, Mark 4:3-9.)

The Fall Festivals

5) Trumpets (Leviticus 23:23-25)
The only biblical requirement for the keeping of the Day of Trumpets is the blowing of the shofar, the ram’s horn. Does the blowing of trumpets ring a bell in regard to the Rapture? 1 Corinthians 15:52: The trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable.

1 Thessalonians 4.16: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.”

Trumpets, is prophetic of the Rapture, and in the sequence of prophetic events, it occurs after the Church Age.

6) Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:27)
The Day of Atonement is a day of solemnity in which all Israelites were to afflict their souls for their sinfulness. A goat was to be sacrificed, and its blood brought by the high priest into the holy of holies as an offering for the sins of the people. A second goat was then driven into the wilderness, symbolically carrying away Israel’s sins. (Leviticus 16:1-34, esp. v. 10)

The removal of Israel’s sins will be actualized at the end of the Great Tribulation when all Jews who survive Satan’s most virulent attempt to annihilate them (afflicting their bodies as well as souls) will receive Jesus as their Messiah, fulfilling the key provision of the New Covenant that God made with them: they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them (Jeremiah 31:34. Also Zechariah 12:10, 13:1.)

The fulfillment of the Day of Atonement, then, is the Great Tribulation, the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7 ASV), the central purpose of which is the salvation of all Israel, meaning all Israelites alive at that time (Romans 11:26).

We see, then, that the Rapture takes place at the end of the Church Age and before the Great Tribulation. (There is one other feast, the Feast of Tabernacles, which is fulfilled by the return of the Lord to the Earth: Leviticus 23:33-44; Hosea 5:15; Zechariah 14:16; Matthew 23:39; 2 Corinthians 5:1; 2 Peter 1:13-14; Revelation 21:3).

Other Passages

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, 5:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 and Revelation 3:10 likewise teach forthrightly or clearly imply a pre-tribulation Rapture. The structure of the book of Revelation does the same. Chapters 1-3 deal with church events prior to the Tribulation, and 19-22, deal with events involving the church beginning with the Second Coming of the Lord from heaven with His church; but the church is not so much as mentioned in chapters 6-18, the Tribulation chapters. Where was the church during the Tribulation? In heaven with the Lord, having gotten there by means of the Rapture prior to the Tribulation.

The Rapture Will Likely Occur Immediately Before the Tribulation

“They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:27-29).

Life was going on as usual until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Verse 29: on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Jesus prefaced these verses by saying, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man.

It is not the Rapture that will mark the beginning of the Great Tribulation, but Anti-Christ’s signing of a seven-year peace treaty with Israel (Daniel 9:27). However, Luke 17:27-29 seems to declare that the Rapture will occur on the very day of the signing, probably immediately before it.

Who Will Be Raptured?

A. Those in Christ

1 Thessalonians 4:16 states that those in Christ will be raptured, also 1 Corinthians 15:22-23. Verse 22: “ For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” Verse 23: “But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming.”

Again, the Festival of Firstfruits is prophetic of Christ’s resurrection, and Trumpets is prophetic of the Rapture of those who are Christ’s at His coming. In light of verse 22, the latter part of verse 23 refers specifically to the resurrection of the deceased in Christ. But who, exactly, is in Christ?

An examination of Scripture will show that “in Christ” and other such terms,” in Jesus,” “in Christ Jesus,” “in Him,” “whom” and “in the Lord,” are used, without exception, for believers from Pentecost through the Rapture – in other words, for church saints; for the Church Age began at Pentecost and will terminate with the Rapture. Remember: On the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, the Spirit baptized two sinful “loaves” into one body: For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles (1 Corinthians 12:13) that He might make the two into one new man (Ephesians 2:15).

All pre and post-church saints will likewise come to dwell with the Lord in heaven, but the Rapture involves only those in Christ, the church, believers from Pentecost to the Rapture – and all in Christ.

B. All Who Are in Christ

1 Corinthians 15:51
“We will all be changed.”

1 Thessalonians 5:3-5
“While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day.”

The Tribulation will not overtake the Thessalonian believers like a thief, because they are all sons of light and sons of day.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
A plain reading of the passage gives the impression that all will be included, and no hint is dropped that any will be left out. We who are alive and remain: is found twice, in verses 14 and 17, and is all, inclusive.

In verse 18, Paul exhorts the Thessalonians, Therefore, comfort one another with these words. Now, if Paul had left any impression that some of the Thessalonians might be left behind at the Rapture, on what basis could they comfort one another? These all passages leave no loophole for “most” or “some.”

Other passages that plainly declare that the Tribulation is for unbelievers and not for church saints are 1 Thessalonians 3-5 and 2 Thessalonians 2:8-13. The Tribulation is not for those who have been chosen . . . for salvation, but is for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For what reason is the Tribulation for them? So that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth.

All church saints will be raptured and none will experience the Tribulation; yet, some passages have been misunderstood to mean that some church saints will be left behind for the sake of chastisement or sanctification. Let’s turn to I Corinthians to put this notion to rest.

In chapter 5, Paul spends thirteen verses taking the Corinthians to task. He begins, “It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife (v. 1).

Paul considered this man’s offense so severe that he urged the church to excommunicate him (v. 13), and he himself decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. (The destruction of his flesh refers to the destruction of the body, even unto death, if necessary, if there is no repentance.)

Now note: Paul did not know whether or not the man would repent; yet it was to this same church – in the same letter – that he wrote, “we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed” – even that Corinthian man.

Footnote:

Scriptures are quoted from the New American Standard translation.