Three Stages of the Rapture
Christians don’t need to agree with each other concerning how the rapture will happen, but we all need to be in agreement with the Word of God, then, we will all say the same things.
There is no guesswork involving how the rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ will transpire. The Lord furnishes us with all that information.
To possess a biblical understanding of how the rapture will occur, we must understand three things.
The rapture consists of the resurrection, the change, and the snatching-away.
Three Important Questions on Taken
In previous posts, we have answered three of your major questions concerning the Taken. These revolve around the definition of the rapture and who will participate and when it will occur.
But, today, let’s spend some time clarifying how the Caught-Up will execute according to the Word of God.
I have written about this in my new book, “Golden Candlestick – The Seven Spirits of God”. Consequently, what follows comes from it.
How Will the Resurrection of the Dead Happened?
“As the Lord and His heavenly entourage are descending from heaven, Michael sounds his trumpet.
Then all the righteous: living and dead, shall hear it. However, it will only call all the dead Christians to come to life again.
Then, He snatches both to join Him in the skies. This is the voice of God. This is the first resurrection. The resurrection of the just. This is the rapture. This is the last day.
“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” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
How the Rapture Will Affect the Righteous Dead
Although the Lord will descend with a
All the righteous-dead, since Adam, right-up until the trumpet sounds will rise first. This includes all those who died since Creation and in every era.
They shall all rise from the dead in synced with each other. None will rise before the other. Everyone will be rising from the dead in perfect timing and harmony. And this will execute in a nanosecond.
Therefore, dead Christians from all times, and from all nations and from every place on planet earth will rise out of the grave and death as one in the blink of an eye.
The Spirit of the Lord Will Change Them
As a result, those in India will not resurrect before those in China; and those in Africa will not live before those in Europe; nor those in North America will not come up before those in South America and so on.
As all the dead Christians are rising globally and swiftly from death, simultaneously they are transformed. The Spirit of the Lord will change them and supply glorified bodies for them.
Some people will ask, what about those persons who were cremated, or those that died at sea, or those eaten by wild beasts?
Irrespective of how a person died, the Lord God will assign a new and glorified body only to those who are Believers, like those of the angels in heaven.
We Will be as the Angels in Heaven
Don’t be ignorant of the power of the Lord God.
In the resurrection, we will neither be males nor females; instead, we will be as the angels in heaven.
Consequently, Jesus explains: “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven” (Matthew 22:30).
We marry and are given in marriages only because we are of opposite gender. But when we are as angels we shall have no gender. For this reason same-sex marriage is diabolical.
Then, we shall neither be males nor females, so we shall have no need for marriage.
We will be totally spirits. They are spirits.
How the Rapture Will Take Place
As Christ Jesus is still descending in the sky with His heavenly entourage, then all Christians will be taken away out of the earth to meet Him and His angels in the sky. This is the rapture. The taken.
They are still in the clouds. But now all the righteous, and all the host of heaven, and the Lord God are returning to earth. At this point, this event becomes the second coming of Christ.
Friends and brethren, it is this snatching-away of the church that will result in pandemonium, chaos, and extensive carnage on earth.
Imagine a Believer in Jesus Christ functioning in every capacity on earth. Start from the lowest and aim for the skies. And I don’t mean this in any derogatory manner. All jobs are important to our well-being here on earth.
Globally Believers in Jesus Will Disappear
So, this is true whether you are a farmer, fisherman, fire-fighter, teacher, engineer, waiter, doctor, scientist, or pilot etc.
This is when, globally, numerous people who are Believers in Jesus Christ will disappear.
Again, the Lord does not leave us guessing how this will play-out for he tells us exactly what to expect.
For example, imagine say, Christian, train operators in New York City (NYC), being missing from their posts all at once. Trains will derail, collide, and crash into structures like buildings and millions will die.
Now, magnify this picture. Think of a similar thing happening not only in NYC, but in all of America. Now, enlarge it a bit more and think in terms of all countries globally!
A Similar Thing Happened Twice Before
Intensify it still further to include transportation on the sea, in the air, and other land base transportation like, those on roads, such as cars, trucks, buses, bikes and motorcycles. That’s pandemonium. That’s confusion. Carnage. And such will be the result of the rapture.
The rapture will be quick and unexpected. It will be the farthest thing on our minds. As we execute our daily routines it will strike. A similar thing happened twice before.
“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:37).
“Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” (Jude 1:7 & 2 Peter 2:6).
Taken Quickly and Quitely
Note the emphasis on “taken” or rapture of Believers in the following quotations:
“Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left” (Matthew 24:40 & Luke 17:36).
“Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left” (Matthew 24:41 & Luke 17:35).
“I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left” (Luke 17:34).
Fundamentally then, the rapture is a snatching away experience of people who please God. But first, He translates them then He takes them away.” [1]
Conclusion
Even though there are three stages to the rapture, there is no wait. No time elapse between them. There is no interval between the resurrection and the change and there is none between the change and the snatching-away. All these occur “in the blink of an eye”.
However, for our comprehension of the process, we could see each “as a stage” or division. But all is one smooth and super-fast event.
The rapture must precede the Second Advent of Christ, because his Church ,(we), will be with him when he comes again.
Are you ready for the rapture? You need to be ready and waiting, not getting ready. It will be sudden and quick. You won’t have time to prepare. Be ready!
In a later post, I will teach you how to be ready for this
secret event.
Daley, L. A. 2019. The Golden Candlestick: The Seven Spirits of God. Red Bank: Newman Springs Publishing.
