NOTES ON THE GLORY OF THE REBUILT CITY: POSTSCRIPT ON NEHEMIAH’S RESTORED WALLS & BULWARKS Part III

PART III: “THE WAY OF SAFETY II”

QUOTATIONS

“What desires hath the Spirit and Bride to hear, when the Husband Christ shall say to the mighty angels, ‘Make you ready for the Journey; let us go down and divide the skies, and bow the heaven: I will gather my prisoners of hope unto Me; I can want My Rachel and her weeping children no longer. Behold, I come quickly to Judge the Nations.’ The Bride, the Lamb’s wife, blesseth the feet of the messengers that preach such tidings, ‘Rejoice, O Zion, put on thy beautiful garments; thy King is coming.’ Yea, she loveth that quarter of the sky, that being rent asunder and cloven, shall yield to her Husband, when He shall put through His glorious hand, and shall come riding on the rainbow and clouds to receive her to Himself.” – SAMUEL RUTHERFORD, ‘The Trial and Triumph of Faith,’ Delivered in sermons, 1645; edited

“Let us be alert to the Season in which we are living. It is the Season of the Blessed Hope, calling for us to cut our ties with the World and build ourselves on this One who will soon Appear. He is our Hope—a Blessed Hope enabling us to rise above our times and fix our gaze upon Him.” – A.W. TOZER, ‘Preparing for Jesus’ Return: Daily Live the Blessed Hope,’ 2012; edited

“The United States is Falling Away from the very things that had made it what it was. What it is becoming is something to be feared.” – ADAM BRADFORD, ‘The United States of Apostasy,’ 2014; edited

Selah.

  1. THE TEACHING

“Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” – ISAIAH 26:20-21, KJV

PRE-WRATH. As a Prerequisite to this ‘Course,’ I must lay a proper foundation for why I am rock solid, ‘Pre-Wrath’ (not quite the same as ‘Pre-Tribulation’) concerning the Christ’s Rescue of His people, ‘Before the Day of His Anger.’

  • 1 THESSALONIANS 5:9. “For God has not appointed us to [incur His] wrath [He did not select us to condemn us], but [that we might] obtain [His] salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah).” – AMPC
  • ROMANS 5:9. “Therefore, since we are now justified (acquitted, made righteous, and brought into right relationship with God) by Christ’s blood, how much more [certain is it that] we shall be saved by Him from the indignation and wrath of God.” – AMPC
  • LUKE 21:36. “Keep awake then and watch at all times [be discreet, attentive, and ready], praying that you may have the full strength and ability and be accounted worthy to escape all these things [taken together] that will take place, and to stand in the presence of the Son of Man.” – AMPC
  • REVELATION 3:10. “Because you have guarded and kept My word of patient endurance [have held fast the lesson of My patience with the expectant endurance that I give you], I also will keep you [safe] from the hour of trial (testing) which is coming on the whole world to try those who dwell upon the earth.” – AMPC

IN SUM. I submit to the reader that after no fewer than a forty year-long intense, often frustrating chase after foolish and sometimes high-browed theological and hermeneutical fables, I cannot escape the iron-tight Symmetry of God’s Words – and Biblical History – as I enter the Final Phase of this Teaching.

From the Times of Noah and Lot, through the Last Days of the present era, God’s obedient people are NEVER appointed to ‘God’s Wrath,’ as drastically distinguished from ‘Satan’s wrath’ (and the ‘Birth Pangs’). Period. Full stop. For all theological intents and purposes – End of the debate, at least for me.

ULTIMATE DIVINE DELIVERANCE. Thus, we have this Glorious Promise coming to the True Church, in the form of the Rapture of the entire Body, or ‘Bride’ of Christ, and our stunning Translation into a whole New Order of Being.

“Beloved, we are [even here and] now God’s children; it is not yet disclosed (made clear) what we shall be [hereafter], but we know that when He comes and is manifested, we shall [as God’s children] resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He [really] is.”– 1 JOHN 3:2, AMPC

A GLIMPSE OF THE NEW BODY. “We get a glimpse of what our resurrection bodies will be like when we recall Jesus’ Post-Resurrection appearances. He still had visible wounds, and His disciples could physically touch Him, yet He was able to travel effortlessly and appear and disappear at will. He could go through walls and doors yet could also eat and drink and sit and talk. Scripture informs us that our ‘lowly bodies’ will be just ‘like His glorious body’ (Philippians 3:21). Indeed, the physical limitations imposed by sin that hinder our ability to fully serve Him on earth will be forever gone, Freeing us to praise and serve and glorify Him for eternity.” – Adapted from RANDY ALCORN, ‘Heaven,’ 2004; edited

Gave this book to my Dad a few weeks before he passed, and he took enormous comfort from it, as with every element of ‘The Blessed Hope.’

ISAIAH 26 AND THE RAPTURE. Now to our standard breakdown of the Key Concepts in the passage under review, and their undeniable connection to ‘The Parousia.’ A number of respected theologians and Bible scholars agree that this passage from Isaiah holds powerful implications for The Rapture.

  • MY PEOPLE. To begin with, we must note that this Divine Invitation is reserved only for God’s people, and no others. From the Hebrew primary term, ‘Am’ [עַם], it means: “A people, nation, inhabitants of a city; retainers, [remainders] or those who truly follow; a people bearing arms; compatriots, fellow countrymen; true kinsmen; a community or group which has certain unified, sustained relationship within itself [non-fragmented, bonded in God’s truth].” 
  • ENTER THY CHAMBERS. Here we have a rich load of conjoined Old and New Testament theology and cultural practice. Suffice for now to look at the key term, ‘Cheder’ [חֶדֶר], meaning: “A chamber or private, inner room; place, abode, tent; also, bridal chamber; an apartment, privy chamber; reserved expressly for the servants of the Crown; any retired room; any private apartment which a person occupies, using as his own personal lodging room.”
  • SHUT YOUR DOORS BEHIND YOU. This somewhat ominous phrase focuses on the Hebrew word, ‘Sagar’ [סָגַר]: “Close up any breach or opening; closely joined with a tight seal; to shut up something prized, rare or fine; to be firmly closed, as with city gates; to deliver up; surrender; completely inclose together; to prohibit; to bar; to forbid entrance into; as, to shut the ports of the Kingdom by a blockade.”
  • HIDE FOR A LITTLE MOMENT. Taken from the Hebrew, ‘Rega’ [רֶגַע]: “An instant; space; suddenly; a wink of the eyes; a very short space of time; to toss violently and suddenly, as with the sea; to settle or become quiet; to move, rush, drive or fall suddenly, which sense gives that of force, or impulsive power; ‘In a moment in the twinkling of an eye.’ – 1 Corinthians 15:52.”
  • UNTIL THE INDIGNATION IS PAST. Now here we have the Core Doctrine of this passage, as it relates to the New Testament counterparts concerning (1) the Return of Messiah for His Bride, and (2) His release of the Trumpet and Bowl Judgments in the Book of Revelation (Ch. 8-16). From the Hebrew, ‘Zaam’ [זַעַם]: “The insolence of Yah; God’s rage, anger, wrath; a curse or denunciation (of the wicked); pitched irritation, mingled with utter contempt; the dreadful effects of God’s wrath, terrible judgments, holy displeasure.” 
  • TO PUNISH. He Comes to execute a Single Purpose: To severely Punish the inhabitants of the whole Earth who opposed and resisted Him after many, many warnings and many, many years. I am still convinced for “120 years” (cf. Genesis 6:3). Taken from the word, ‘Paqad’ [פְקַד]: “To attend to closely, visit, appoint; muster (as with troops); to be visited by the Overseer for discipline; give a charge; God is here in final control, as Commander.”
  • THE EARTH WILL DISCLOSE HER BLOOD. This Final Indignation, from the Hebrew, ‘Galah’ [גֶּלֶה]: “To uncover, remove; to banish or carry away into exile; to reveal; the mirth and increase of the land is departed; to uncover one’s nakedness and shame; to discover the foundations [of the iniquity of the earth]; to lay bare all held in secret; to denudate, strip, unveil; God’s public, stark exposure unto shame.”

THE EVENT. So does God ‘Hide us’ in our Private Chambers (not ‘Mansions’), fashioned by Christ’s own caring hands for the past 2,000 years, to not even allow us a peek at the Horror taking place on the Earth below.

Rather, this:

“And when (if) I go and make ready a place for you, I will come back again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also … In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the [sound of the] last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [in Christ] will be raised imperishable (free and immune from decay), and we shall be changed (transformed).” – JOHN 14:3; 1 CORINTHIANS 15:52, AMPC

COMMENTARIES. Here are two excellent and moving interpretations of this magnificent Promise.

  • MATTHEW POOLE. “The particle ‘if’ in this place denotes no uncertainty of the thing whereof he had before assured them; but in this place hath either the Force of although, or after that: When, or after that, I have died, Ascended, and by all these acts, as also by my intercession, shall have made places in Heaven fully ready for you, I will in the Last Day Return again, as Judge of the quick and the dead, and take you up into Heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:16,17); that you may be made partakers of My Glory (John 17:22). This is called (Romans 8:17), a being ‘glorified together’ with Him; and elsewhere, a Reigning with Him. So as this is a third argument by which our Lord Comforteth His disciples as to their trouble conceived for the want of His bodily presence with them, from the Certainty of His Return to them, and the end and consequent of His Return: The End was to receive them to Himself; the Consequent, their eternal abiding with Christ where He was.” – ‘English Annotations on the Holy Bible,’ 1685; edited
  • WILLIAM MACDONALD. “Verse 3 refers to the Time when the Lord will Come Back again into the air, when those who have ‘died in [obedient] Faith’ will be raised, when the living will be CHANGED [‘Alassó’ (ἀλλάσσω); ‘be completely transformed’], and when all the Blood-bought throng will be taken Home to Heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:15-58). This is a personal, literal Coming of Christ. As surely as He went away, He will Come Again. His desire is to have His own with Him for all Eternity.” – ‘Believer’s Bible Commentary,’ 1995, p. 1545; edited, emphasis my own

IN SUM. Perhaps it is a bit clearer now why the Doctrine of the Rapture of the Church has been so attacked, distorted, maligned, mocked and suppressed for literally two thousand years. Of all the miraculous things the Lord shall perform in the Last Days, this one Mega-Event, the mind-numbing Mass Translation of millions of Christians into Celestial Beings – “For we shall be like Him” (1 John 3:2), with bodies, minds and spirits become fully Supernatural.

Selah. Selah

  1. FINAL THOUGHTS

To complete this lengthier than expected but wonderfully encouraging subject, I turn to an astute, doctrinally sound Exposition of the Isaiah 26 Teaching that I found refreshing, and expect you will as well. And I write all of this, beloved, in the full conviction that The Return of Messiah is rapidly approaching, and that much of our difficulty is part of our being Refined and Prepared for His Arrival.

ISAIAH 26 AND THE RAPTURE. The full title of an excellent article, penned by a writer who goes by the name of “JAMES,” is: “Why Isaiah 26-19-21 Refers to the Rapture.” Several other Bible scholars make the same case, but this one was concise summary of all of them.

Published in his online blog entitled, ‘Relentlessly Scriptural: Christ Plus Zero,’ published on April 14, 2011; edited as always.

  • REASON ONE: THY DEAD MEN SHALL LIVE. “In the progression of events which comprise the Rapture, the first thing that occurs is the bodily Resurrection of the saints (called ‘the dead in Christ’ in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-16 and ‘they that are Christ’s’ in 1 Corinthians 15:23). This is the first piece of evidence which clues us in to the fact that this verse is indeed a proof text for the Rapture.  Since this is also a Messianic Prophecy (‘My dead body shall arise’), I would like to point out to my unbelieving Jewish friends that this verse seems to refute the common (albeit erroneous) rabbinic interpretation of Isaiah 53’s suffering servant as the nation of Israel instead of Yeshua the Messiah Who, according to this verse, is God. Because God is speaking in Isaiah 26:19, we know that it is God Whose dead body Arises accompanied afterward by all that are in the grave.”
  • REASON TWO: COME, MY PEOPLE, ENTER THOU INTO THY CHAMBERS. “What is and where are these Chambers which allow us to ‘Hide’ from the coming Indignation? Could the ‘Place’ that Christ is preparing for His believers (where there are many mansions) contain the Chambers we are to abide in until the End of the Great Tribulation? This seems to make good sense. After all, in the very next verse we are told that Christ’s Purpose for preparing this place for us is so that He can Come Again to receive us unto Himself, which is precisely what the Rapture is all about. So, the second reason why this passage refers to the Rapture is because the ‘Chambers’ in Isaiah 26:20 seem to coincide with the Heavenly ‘Place’ which Christ prepares for those Christians that He comes back to get.”
  • REASON THREE: THE INDIGNATION BE OVERPAST. “The Central Purpose of the Rapture is to Exclude Christ’s people from the Wrath to come (see ‘Have we forgotten about the Rapture’). Consequently, it follows that Isaiah 26:21 is a perfect supporting text for the Rapture since its main point is that God wants His people ‘spared’ from the Wrath that is to come.”
  • REASON FOUR: THE LORD COMETH OUT OF HIS PLACE TO PUNISH. “Since the Great Tribulation’s purpose is to punish ‘the earth’s inhabitants’ for their iniquity in rejecting God and His Christ (Psalms 2:2-5), it is not hard to understand why Isaiah 26:21 parallels other verses which describe the intent of the tribulation period (Revelation 3:10, 1 Thessalonians 1:10). Therefore, the fourth reason why this passage refers to the Rapture is because the Punishment that comes is brought by God (i.e., ‘the Lord cometh out of His place to punish’) and the Punishment is meant for all people (i.e. the inhabitants of the Earth) who have not obeyed the Gospel.”

JAMES CONCLUDES. “Finally, David Guzik’s [Enduring Word] Commentary on Isaiah 26:19-21 states: ‘When is this Time when God’s people are Carried Away, securely hidden, from a time of Great Indignation the Lord brings upon the earth? It can refer to the deliverance of the Jewish people from the fury of the Antichrist described in Revelation 12:6 and 12:13-16. But it is more likely that it speaks of the refuge, the safety, the security of God’s people when they are ‘Caught Up’ together with the Lord in the air (1Thessalonians 4:16-17) and Escape the horrific Indignation of the Lord that He pours out upon the world in the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21-22, Rev_9:15-21), which will immediately precede the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (Matthew 24:29-30). Seen this way, this is a powerful passage supporting the teaching of the Pre-Tribulation [or ‘Pre-Wrath’] Rapture, which says that Jesus Christ will Remove His people from this Earth before the time of Great Tribulation coming upon the earth immediately before His Ultimate Return.”

Let me say that when I set out on this study, I had no idea that I would spend so much time on the Rapture. But no apology from me; clearly the Lord wanted us to dig down a bit on this crucial and timely Doctrine of the Church that has been so maligned for centuries.

The Reason will be pointed out in the Conclusion.

CODA. I will finish this Tome with my own understanding of this stupendous Mega-Event toward the end of my book, ‘The Sixth Seal.’ I spent around 30 years researching it, so why not lay it out for y’all to ponder in the exhilarating and challenging days ahead.

This shall prove as concise a Summary of my Pre-Wrath theology as I could ever offer, again, as important food for prayerful reflection.

“It is therefore the proposal of this work, along with two commentaries that came before my own, that the Rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ takes place on ‘The Day of the Lord,’ somewhere just prior to or between the onset of God’s Wrath in the Sixth Seal, and the commencing of the Trumpet Judgments following the opening of the Seventh Seal … I take the unique position that just before, perhaps only a microsecond before the appearance of the Wrath of God on the earth, indeed, ‘in the twinkling of an eye’ (1 Cor. 15:52), He literally, visibly, and some would say ‘Catastrophically’ Rescues all followers of Christ in a massive Upsweep into the clouds that leaves the rapidly disintegrating World Order behind.” – KELLY, 2017, pp. 115-116; edited

THIS VERY MORNING. This may appear brash or presumptuous, but as I asked the Lord if I was steering a straight doctrinal course in all this, worried that I may be constructing an Urgency that is not justified, I heard that ‘Whisper’ again, leading me straight to this passage.

I had no idea what was there when whispered to me.

“The end and culmination of all things is near. Therefore, be sound-minded and self-controlled for the purpose of prayer [staying balanced and focused on the things of God so that your communication will be clear, reasonable, specific and pleasing to Him].” – 1 PETER 4:7, AMP

DK’S TAKE. My typical drill-down on the Greek Text reads thus: ‘The Last Things [‘telos;’ τέλος] of God’s Kingdom are drawn extremely close now [‘eggizó;’ ἐγγίζω]. Therefore remain of sound mind, temperate, steady, to think shrewdly the very thoughts of God [‘sóphroneó;’ σωφρονέω].  Finally, literally, ‘stay sober’ in order to watch vigilantly and circumspectly, abstaining from wine in order to remain free from all illusion, selfish passion or greed [‘néphó;’ νήφω].’

That is precisely how the Text reads, the point being: If you are “serious” about the imminent Return of Christ and His Judgments, then by all means, remain “serious” about your Commitment to obey and follow Him in all things. All things, beloved.

A QUESTION: What in all of human history or personal experience could remotely rival The Rapture Event? I cannot thing of a single one, popular clichés and common Church memes notwithstanding. No, not even one.

Listen to Paul’s Prophecy as we close, and keep these Words very close to you indeed.

“For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel and with the [blast of the] trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain [on the earth] will simultaneously be caught up (raptured) together with them [the resurrected ones] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord! Therefore comfort and encourage one another with these words [concerning our reunion with believers who have died].” – 1 THESSALONIANS 4:16-18, AMP

CONCLUSION. I dare not add a single word to this, save to lovingly admonish us to Make Ready for The Divine Mega-Event of all human history, which shall shatter all human understanding of the unlimited Power of Almighty God – except for those truly Sealed in The Christ for that Day of all days. Selah.

Ever your servant, DK

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