Ask Pastor Mike Fabarez

Speaker 1

Well, today on Focal Point, we'll join Pastor Mike Fabarez as he answers a question from a listener about the return of Jesus and what to expect on that day.

Welcome to Focal Pointe. I'm your host, Dave Drury. If you're a regular listener, you know that each week we have a standing appointment with Pastor Mike Fabarez. It's time to ask him some tough questions and get some clear answers.

If you'd like to pose a question of your own, you're invited to do so by visiting focal pointradio.org. Later on, I'll share some additional ways to contact us. But right now, let's join executive director Jay Worton and Pastor Mike inside his personal study.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Dave. I think today's question is going to prompt a good discussion, so let's jump right in. Pastor Mike this listener asks, what is the rapture?

Speaker 3

Yeah, the rapture. Well, First Thessalonians, chapter 4 uses the word as it relates to God's people being caught up into heaven with Christ. So it's not an unusual word. 14 times it's used in the New Testament. Harpazo is the Greek word, and it's used of a robber snatching things out of a person's possession or a wolf coming among the sheep and snatching a lamb, a prisoner being taken by an army. It's even used metaphorically of converts that evangelists are catching for Christ. So this is a common word, harpazo.

In Latin, it's translated in the Latin Vulgate as rapio. And rapio is the word that is used as the root for our English word rapture. So that's where we get this word in English. Some English translations way back may use it, but most modern translations in 1 Thessalonians 4 just use "caught up together." You know, "caught up," that's the word harpazo.

So the Bible clearly teaches that at the end of time, God is going to catch up, rapture, harpazo his people up to be with Christ. And so, you know, that's the basic idea of the rapture. Of course, all the confusion and all the debate is about when is that going to happen?

Speaker 2

Well, you've prompted the question, so when is it going to happen? Do you have that reminder set on your phone?

Speaker 3

Yeah. Well, I can tell you at least what I believe about the sequence of it. Clearly, Jesus was constantly reminding us that we cannot know the day or the hour. We don't know when all of this will be wrapped up. But the Bible, in my view, I do believe there is a distinction between the beginning of the day of the Lord, which I believe begins with the Harpazo being caught up together, which is in terms of being a surprise. It's imminent; we don't know when it's going to take place. It could happen at any time.

Then there is the finality of the day of the Lord when Christ comes back and has his feet touch down on the Mount of Olives. I believe this is coming at a different time. The interval that I believe is between those, as many teachers on the radio suggest—although it's not a universal view—is a seven-year period that the Bible speaks of throughout the book of Revelation, going all the way back to Daniel, talking about the 70 weeks, that 70th set of seven, which clearly refers to years.

So, we've got a seven-year period that I think separates these two events, these two components, if you will, of the day of the Lord. One begins the day of the Lord, and one ends, at least in terms of the people of God being victorious and coming back at the battle of Armageddon, having Christ touch his feet down on the ground. Of course, if one is a surprise, the other one then wouldn't be if it's separated by these frequent references to time in the book of Revelation.

I’m a futurist as it relates to the book of Revelation. I believe the book of Revelation from chapter six to the end of the book is all things that have yet to come. I'm not a preterist, so I don't believe they're already past and complete. I don't think they were completed in 70 A.D. I just think there's too many issues with that view.

So, my view is that this is future and that we have a series of events that relate to Israel primarily. That's the focus of Revelation chapters 6 through 19. There’s going to be the separation of the rapture of the church that begins this. In many ways, it's one of the things that begins this, and then it ends this period of the time of Jacob's trouble, or this seven-year period. It ends with the coming back of Christ with the saints with him, and he comes and then sets up, I believe, the kingdom and fulfills his promises to Israel.

I know there's lots of debate out there regarding eschatology, but in a nutshell, that's my view.

Speaker 2

What passages do you see that cause you to say the Rapture will happen before this seven year tribulation period?

Speaker 3

Well, I think all the references that relate to this being a surprise indicate that we have issues. If you look at all the time references in the book of Revelation, it suggests that we know when this is coming. We know it down to the day, according to the references to the years, the three and a half years, and the second three and a half years. It's numbered in prophetic years in terms of the 360 days, and there's a lot that goes into this.

If you study the 70-week prophecy of Daniel, specifically Daniel chapter nine, and put it together with the book of Revelation, it seems to be clear that the coming of Christ is on a calendar; it's on a schedule. This can be clearly known and seen, starting with a covenant of a world leader with the nation of Israel and the breaking of the covenant halfway through. If all of that is to be taken literally, seriously, and normally, then I think there's no way to explain all these surprise references to the coming of Christ for the church of God.

We are to always be ready, and He could come at any time, and we're not going to know the time. Yet, all these references to time are given to us in the book of Revelation and in the Old Testament book of Daniel. So, I'm thinking about how we have to put these passages into two columns. That's how I like to describe it: passages that refer to the eschaton or the end of time, and the things that are coming at the end being a surprise, and those that should be known because here are the series of events that precede them.

Which is it? I'm saying, well, it's both. It's the beginning of this that's a surprise, and it's the end of this that's not a surprise, because all these events are clearly falling in line according to the time sequence that's laid out for us in the book of Revelation.

Speaker 2

How, as Christians, should we be looking at this? We can't just focus on the Rapture in the end times as an end in itself.

So how should we be looking at this, and how do we put this into the context of our Christian life and our Christian walk on a daily basis?

Speaker 3

Well, when Jesus talked about the surprise element of his return, he always, not in every case, but often he connected it with the urgency. We should have to always be working. In other words, we ought to be about the kingdom work, because we should always be busy about that work when he returns.

We don't want to be found thinking, thinking as he says in his parables, like, well, it's going to be a long time till he comes. So I'm not going to worry about when he comes back. And I'm going to just live my life without that sense of the imminent return of Christ.

So the imminency of Christ, any moment return of Christ should lead me to.

Speaker 4

Say it could be today.

Speaker 3

So I'm going to work for him. I'm going to put kingdom principles and kingdom priorities first. And I need to make sure that I'm living my life as though Christ were going to return today and bring me home and gather me together.

Speaker 2

Well, thank you, Pastor Mike. That is a great instruction there.

And I think today's conversation really clarified the Rapture and what we can expect on that day. But there's even more on this topic, as you know.

So we're going to listen to a message you gave called the Rapture Debate.

Speaker 4

If you were to look up the word rapture in your Bible's English concordance, you may not even find the word depending on what translation you use. What are we talking about? Most of us understand it in the context of eschatology, something about it. But let's kind of go back in time and find the concept here and understand something of it. Linguistically, the Greek word that is used to represent this eschatological future concept is the Greek word harpazo. Harpazo.

And what might be becoming a pattern now in your thinking as a student of the Bible is that words like this are often used in a technical sense and in a non-technical sense, much like the word apostle used in a technical sense of the 12. And it's also used in a non-technical sense as those that are sent messengers, Angelos, angels, same thing. We have words that are used in a technical sense and usually we put it with a capital letter at the beginning and then a non-technical sense. And so it is with the word harpazo. You'll find it, by the way, 14 times in the New Testament. Most of those times are used in a non-technical sense.

Okay, let me give you a few examples of that. For instance, we'll find the Greek word harpazo in the New Testament as Jesus illustrates things, for instance in his parable of the robber coming to take your goods when someone sneaks in and takes your stuff at night. That's a harpazo, right? They're harpazoing it from you. Also, Jesus tells a lot of agrarian illustrations and the illustration of a wolf coming in and kind of sneaking in there and grabbing a lamb and taking off with it. That's another use of the word in the New Testament, harpazo. Sheep are harpazoed by wolves.

The one we're interested in is the one in scripture that speaks of people being harpazoed by God, much like a robber taking possessions or a wolf taking away a lamb. In Scripture, we have this picture of God harpazoing his people. Okay, now where do we get the word rapture from? That comes from the Latin Vulgate. Hopefully, you understand that. If not, let me give you a quick background on the end of the 4th century. Of course, Greek was dying out, so we translated the Bible into the language of the day, which was Latin. And so Latin became the prevailing language of Christianity and theology.

In the Latin Vulgate, which is an important translation of the Church for centuries, starting in the late 4th century, we have the word translating harpazo: rapio. Rapio. Rapio, the Latin word. We start to see where we're going to get this English word, right? This is the basis of it. Today's English, we get the word rapture. Rapture.

Now, here's the problem. If you look up the word rapture in a dictionary, you'll find words like this: bliss, extreme joy. If someone, as it relates to rapture, they have this incredible feeling of extreme happiness. The concept here comes from rapio in Latin, and that is that my feelings or emotions are down here, so to speak, and they get transported or caught up into a high level of delight or joy or happiness. So there's the picture.

Now, here are some of the translations of harpazo in your New Testaments, okay? You have phrases like this that we'll see. In one of the key passages, you'll have the phrase caught up. And that's our central passage, though we'll look at others. In 1st Thessalonians, chapter 4, the people of God are caught up into the air. You'll also find the phrase taken away. That one, I think, is the one used of the sheep being taken away by the wolves. You'll see gathered up as another translation of the word snatched away, sometimes used as a positive that God snatches away his people, or used as a negative in that. Remember the passage that no one can snatch them from my hand? Right? The people, the sheep, they hear my voice, they know me, they follow me, and no one can take them. No one can take them, snatch them from my hand. There's our word harpazo. Caught up, taken up, gathered up, snatched away.

Now, what we're concerned about is the eschatological concept. You'll find this concept in a lot of places where you don't find the word harpazo. Think of John, chapter 14, verse 1. He says, "Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me, because in my father's house," verse 2, "there are many rooms or dwelling places. Now, if I go away, I'll go away to prepare a place for you. And if I go away to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there you'll be also." The concept is everywhere that God has sent His Son into the world. He will leave the world and he will come back to get his people.

Don't see the word harpazo there, but you see the concept: he'll receive you unto himself, that where he is, you'll be also. But the passage I want to camp on for a while is this one: 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4, verses 13 through 18. The most extensive, detailed explanation of the harpazoing of the Church. And we need to look at it first. Thessalonians, chapter four, you can see the pastoral concern of the apostle Paul. People had died. They're a little concerned about their dead relatives. And he says in verse 13 of First Thessalonians, chapter 4, he says, "Brothers, we don't want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep." Fall asleep, not narcolepsy. It's not people that are tired. This is a euphemism for death, right? "I don't want you to grieve like the rest of men or the rest of the world who have no hope."

Speaker 3

We've got hope.

Speaker 4

It's different when your people and your church die. Verse 14: We believe that Jesus died and rose again. Okay, he died, but he's in a resurrected body. We know that. And we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. Now, those that are Christians that have died, don't worry. Just like Christ has been resurrected, people are going to be resurrected.

Now, verse 15: According to the Lord's own Word, we tell you that we who are still alive and are left until the coming of the Lord. Okay, now we're not talking about people that have died, that are Christians, but we're still here. And Christ happens to come back. In our day, we will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command and the voice of the archangel and the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ—Christians now—will rise first. Okay, there'll be a resurrection there.

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be, what's our word? Harpazo. We'll be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore, by the way, if you're mourning over a lost Christian friend who's dead now, he says, encourage each other with these words because it's not over for them, and they're not going to miss out on the coming of the Lord. Matter of fact, they're going to be seeing him before you do in a resurrected body.

So let's tear this apart a little bit. First thing we recognize about this letter A is that whatever it is, look at verse 16: the Lord Himself will come down with a loud command. Is it a soft command or a loud command? It's a loud one. The voice of the archangel and a trumpet call of God. Whatever it is, the scripture is saying, this is a big deal. This is not some silent, secret event. A loud return, the voice of the archangel, the trumpet call of God. So that starts it.

Secondly, it involves a resurrection context here: your dead Christian friend who died a year ago or five years ago or 15 years ago is not going to miss out on this. They are going to be resurrected. Verse 14: he will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. Now it says at the bottom of verse 16, and the dead in Christ will rise first. If you read it carefully, verse 14 says he's bringing those who have fallen asleep. Then it says in verse 16, the dead in Christ will rise first. Now which is it? Are they rising up or are they coming down? Do you see the difference here? They're coming down, it seems, with him, but then they're rising up.

This is what we call the dichotomy, the two-part definition of who we are. We are two parts. The concept in scripture is that I am physical and I am spiritual. But if we are two parts, here I got two concerns. I got the concern about the spirit and I got the concern about the body. There are those that believe in soul sleep, and one of the reasons they do is because of a passage like this. They believe that your dead relative, the Seventh Day Adventist, the Jehovah Witnesses, there's a lot of people and a lot of other, you know, evangelical groups, they believe that when you die, you go unconscious and then at the trumpet call of God, you raise up.

But that's really not a careful reading of this passage because it says there in verse number 14 that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. Now I'm thinking, wait a minute, I just buried, you know, Uncle Albert. He's here physically. But the concept of a dichotomy allows me to understand what happens to him spiritually. The software goes somewhere.

Turn to keep your finger here because we're going to be back to 1 Thessalonians 4. But I want you to turn to 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, just so that we have no confusion about this at all. Now, notice carefully the wording in this text. Second Corinthians 5, verse 1: Now, we know that if this earthly tent or tabernacle, this thing I live in, is destroyed, we have a building from God. Now, I know so much of the New Testament is steeped in analogy and illustration, but you're catching this, right? The tent, okay, that I have this. This building. I've got another one. So the tent that I'm in, I know if it's destroyed, if Nero or Vespasian or some Roman leader, from Paul's perspective, kills me, see, then I know I got a building from God. An eternal house in heaven, not built with human hands.

Meanwhile, we groan and long to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling because when we're clothed, we will not be found naked. There's a good phrase, by the way, for the intermediate state. For while we're in this tent, we groan and are burdened because we do not wish to be unclothed. No one's really looking forward to the day of their death, not in a practical sense, but to be clothed. We want to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling so that what is mortal will be swallowed up with life, which is what First Corinthians 15 was all about.

Now it is God who made us for this very purpose, and he's given us the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come. Verse 6: Therefore, we're always confident, and we know that as long as we're at home in the body, we're away from the Lord. Well, yeah, I guess I spiritually connect with God, but I'm physically away from the Lord. Now, I know that when I die, I will be in the presence of God. The problem is, you're going to watch my body go in the ground. So the dichotomy has been separated here. A true dichotomy.

Now back to First Thessalonians, chapter four. With that in mind, my dead Christian relative or friend is physically here on Earth somewhere, or the remaining parts of him biologically here. But he's spiritually in heaven. Now, this makes sense. He's coming down with Jesus, bringing with him those who have died, fallen asleep. And with the trumpet call of God, the dead in Christ will rise. What rises? The hardware. See the body, and they meet up together.

Now, according to 1 Corinthians 15, with a brand new kind of immortalized body, the imperishable is set aside and the imperishable is put on. The mortality is laid aside and the immortality is put on. There's a transformation. That's the first thing that happens at the rapture. There is an instantaneous resurrection. And by that I mean, and I put that in quotations because I'm not talking about a dead person.

Now, if I back to our passage here, First Thessalonians, chapter 4. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. Now I know what's going to happen to them. Their decaying bodies that were prone to decay are now going to be raised and impervious to decay and sin, and they're going to meet up with their spirit. And now they're brand new people, okay? Just like Christ, the first fruits, I'm remaining.

And now I'm going to be, according to our passage in verse 17, caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Okay? Now whatever's happening here, I've got to go through some kind of immediate resurrection, but I'm not dead. How does that work? Okay, that's why I put it in quotations. There is something that happens at the rapture when the trumpet sounds and the voice of the archangel takes place, where I've got to become like my dead relative that just got a resurrected body. I don't have a resurrected body, but I need one if I'm going to live with God forever in his presence around people that have resurrected bodies.

So I have to be changed. People that are alive are going to have to be instantaneously resurrected. First Corinthians, chapter 15. We got to look at this now. First Corinthians, chapter 15, a parallel passage does not use the word harpazo, but it gives us a better picture of this immediate resurrection or instantaneous resurrection in quotes, verse 52: in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable. And right after that, we will be changed, for the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality.

So I know whatever the rapture is, here's what it is: it's loud, it's a resurrection of all my dead friends, right, that are Christians and everybody throughout church history. And it's my instantaneous resurrection, which is called here a changing or a transformation. Okay, so what do I know about the eschatological concept of harpazo? Using First Thessalonians 4, verses 13 through 18, it's a loud return, trumpet call of God, loud voice. It's a resurrection of all my Christian relatives and everybody I don't know who's put their trust in Christ. It's an instantaneous resurrection for me if I happen to still be around. And it's a meeting in the air. That's what I know.

Speaker 1

And we sure want to be ready when that day comes. You're listening to Pastor Mike Fabarez here on Focal Point, and this message is titled "Sorting out the End Times." Get an unedited version of this complete sermon when you go to focalpointradio.org. Perhaps today's question and answer time helped clarify some things in your mind. That's why we're excited to share these times of personal study with you here at Focal Point. We're dedicated to providing relevant and accurate Bible teaching to those seeking solid scriptural answers.

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Join us and comment at facebook.com/pastormike or twitter.com/pastormike. If you have a question you'd like answered on the air, post it there or at focalpointradio.org. I'm Dave Drouy. Pastor Mike Fabarez returns next week with more from his message, "A God in Control." That's Monday on Focal Point. Today's program was produced and sponsored by Focal Point Ministries.