080805: Rapture (II)

order of events:
Rapture --> Tribulation --> Millenium Reign --> Final Judgment (Judgment of Good vs. Bad)

Matthew 25:14-46
The Parable of the Talents
- each person is given a set of abilites
- all will be judged when the master returns
--> this eludes to the reckoning after the tribulation, about the Rewards judgment (occurs some time after the Rapture; specific time frame is unknown)

central message (NIV):
"Being ready for Christ's coming involves more than playing it safe and doing little or nothing."

When does the Rapture occur?
According to the Bible, a series of events will happen in the course of a generation. These events are all prophesied in the Bible (e.g. Israel becoming one Nation, as predicted in Ezekiel 37; the Message of Christianity being heard across all nations). These events are signs for the Christians to know the return of Christ is near, and that they will soon be Raptured.

Revelation 11:3-14
The Two Witnesses
- this section disproves the theory that the Rapture occurs before the end of the Tribulation

080728: Rapture (I)

Rapture (Raptus): the "catching away" of God's people

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
The coming of the Lord receives those who died in Christ first, then those who have lived and continue to live in Christ second.

1 Corinthians 15:51-58
- reiterated that the dead gets pulled away to the Lord, followed by those still alive
- those who are still alive, when they are received by Christ, go from being a mortal to an immortal, b/c Jesus Christ conquers Death and washes away sins of believers of Christ, thus able to release Christians from the punishment of the original Sin and give them back immortality.

Matthew 24:37-44
- describes events leading up to the Rapture "as in the days of Noah," i.e. back in Noah's days, corruption was so horrible that God told Noah to gather enough beings to start over (very crudely summarized here; details, please refer to the Bible)
- also confirms that only God knows the date ofthe Rapture, not even Jesus knows

Matthew 25: The Parable of the Ten Virgins
- the wedding banquet is a strong theme throughout the description of the Rapture and what Christians do during Tribulation; it is the concept of the formation of a convenant and the idea of the relationship between a husband and a wife
- the 10 virgins symbolize 10 Christians; 5 were ready for the wedding and 5 were not. this implies that not all Christians will be caught away by the coming of Christ, i.e. only the Christians who remain vigilant and prepared will be received.

Luke 21:29: The Parable of the Fig Tree
- the events that lead up to the Rapture all occur in one generation
- these events are predicted by prophecies throughout the Bible and thus act as signs to let the Christian people know the coming of the Lord is near