The Stages of Christ's Ascension and Return (Part 7)

Before I jump back to the two passages of scripture I shared in part 6 of this series, I'd like to share this little insight with you which will help to confirm my interpretation of them. It's not often that we can take a single verse or two and build a concept or doctrine based on what it says. On the other hand, it is scripturally sound to base a concept or doctrine upon confirmations from many verses. This guidance can be illustrated clearly in a simple jigsaw puzzle. One piece provides a little bit of detail, but it's only when you join that piece up with many more pieces in the box, where the full picture comes clearly into view.

Paul provides us with advice that we need to remember and practice when handling the Word. He tells this to Timothy when he writes,

2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Also consider this passage in Isaiah,

Isaiah 28:9-10 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. 10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

It's only when we 'study' the Word, making the effort to bring multiple scriptures together to confirm and clarify, that a true concept or confirmation is formed, and even this is dependent on a proper dispensational understanding of the Word that tells us what belongs to Israel and what is for the Body of Christ.

Scripture must interpret scripture

So, with all this said, let me share the following scripture example with you to prove the above point, and to bring confirmation to how I will be interpreting 1 Thess.4:16-17 and 1 Cor.15:51-52 below. Read the following carefully,

Joh.5:28-29 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

If you do not know anything about the doctrine of the resurrections, the above verse will give the impression that the resurrection of the good and the evil are simultaneous. However, with a deeper study into this topic, one would discover the fact that there are multiple resurrections that occur at various stages in God's master plan, and that there is a gap of 1000-years between the resurrection of the good and the evil. One verse cannot provide all the information pertaining to a concept or topic of study, and therefore one must extract details from many verses in order to pull an accurate understanding of that which is being studied. There are many more examples that prove this point, and it is exactly this point that must be applied to our two key verses below in order to understand them in the right context.

My interpretation of our two key verses

Legend:
— GREEN = Body of Christ (Grace)
— BLUE = Saved Jews and Tribulation Saints (Kingdom/Law)
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1 Thess.4:16-17 (This verse places focus on the RETURN of Christ)
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:  17  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.

The above verse is a general reference to the WHOLE return of Jesus Christ, which spans across several years. Paul is laying out the order of Christ's return from start to finish, from our rapture until the 2nd coming of Christ at the end of the Tribulation. He is not only writing about the rapture of the Body of Christ. This view is illustrated in the chart below where all the events are contained within the red outer circle that represents the whole of Christ's coming. When we interpret this verse, and break up the details in the verse to accommodate for both the Grace and the Kingdom programs, suddenly, all the content of the verse becomes clear and its details start to fit properly with other verses of similar topic to make up the bigger picture.

When Christ returns, the first event is 'a shout'. This is a heavenly command to call the Body of Christ upwards. In our next post, I'll clarify the 'shout' according to scripture and also prove that it is a silent rapture, without any supernatural events like audible and visible signs and dead bodies being resurrected into the clouds.

The next part of the verse is 'the voice of the archangel'. This is connected to the Kingdom program, involving saved Jews and tribulation saints, and will happen at the mid-point of the 7-year Tribulation (Rev.12:5). At this event, when the New Jerusalem visibly appears in the clouds (Heb.12:22-23; Rev.14:1), there will be an angelic command, a trumpet sound and a resurrection of the 'Little Flock church', who will be joined by those living saints of the tribulation, raptured up into the city.

The last part of the verse is, 'and with the trump of God'. It is at this trumpet that Christ would appear in the clouds on a white horse to take vengeance on the earth with His mighty angels. After His victory, we will have the last part of the first resurrection, which is the rest of the saints of God who believed in the gospels of their day; ALL those from Adam up until, but excluding, the 'little flock' church, which has already resurrected 3 1⁄2 years before this. This group of resurrected saints will enter into the Millennial Kingdom with the remnant of Israel and the surviving nations who were the 'sheep' of the "Sheep and Goats" judgement of Christ at the end of the tribulation.

Can you see how much clearer the verses becomes when you break it up into their specific timeslots according to the whole event of Christs coming. There is no longer need to try and explain things that don't seem to fit into our rapture, like the trumpet, and the dead being raised, and Christ in the clouds. As mentioned, in my next post, I'll provide further insights into the events within this passage. For now, just chew on the fact that what many Christians have always interpreted as our rapture only, is in actual fact parts of the whole process of Christs complete return. It's an amazing revelation, the fact that this passage must be understood in relation to a period of several years in the same way as Joh.5:28 that spans across 1000-years. There is deeper insights and details in these verses that only comes to light when associated with other scriptures to gain a deeper knowledge of the topic.

1 Cor.15:51-52 (This verse places focus on the RAPTURE/RESURRECTION event)
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed [raptured/resurrected], 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be [all finally] changed.

As with 1 Thess.4:16-17, the above passage should be read and understood in exactly the same way. As a matter of fact, there is symmetry in the construct of these two passages of scripture. This passage, which deals with the rapture events, is also written as a general overview. The statement, 'in a moment' is the rapture of the Body of Christ, whereas the statement, 'in the twinkling of an eye' is the resurrection event for the Kingdom program at the mid-point of the 7-year Tribulation. The 'the last trump' being the return of Christ to earth to take vengeance on the earth and resurrect of the rest of the saints of God which make up the first resurrection. I will also expound on these phrases and provide clarity on their meanings in my next post. For now, I encourage you to review these key passages, and if what I have laid out is new, do not dismiss it, but take the Word and go and search for truth around this interpretation. I'm sure that you will find similar conclusions to what I will lay out in the next post.

I end this post with a diagram that depicts the WHOLE return of Jesus Christ, which involves the silent rapture of the Body of Christ, the Tribulation, the visible coming of the New Jerusalem in the clouds, the Great Tribulation and Armageddon, and finally the return of Christ in the clouds, the trumpet resurrection, and the inauguration of the Millennial Kingdom. The coming of Christ that Paul writes about in his missionary epistles is a generalized overview of this WHOLE return. This is the context in which we need to interpret and understand these passages.

The multi-part stages of Christ's WHOLE return