The first resurrection

The first resurrection

The term the rapture

The term the rapture that some use creates confusion because of that it can separate the resurrection from the catching up, also it is not in the bible.

Some use the term the catching up before Jacobs trouble. This is wrong. It is true that they are caught up and the dead in Christ rise first. But the corresponding term for caught up in the chapter summery is the resurrection and it seems to happen approximately at the same time as Jesus second coming.

The catching up and rise first (1 Thess 4:16-17) corresponds to the first resurrection. So then we have sorted out when the first resurrection is really.

The term rapture should not be used because it is misguiding people. A better term is the first resurrection. Because that is what it is talking about.

When is the resurrection?

CHAP. IV.
Hee exhorteth them to goe on forward in all manner of godlinesse, 6 to liue holily and iustly, 9 to loue one another, 11 and quietly to followe their owne businesse: 13 and last of all to sorrow moderately for the dead. 17 And vnto this last exhortation is annexed a briefe description of the resurrection, and second comming of Christ to iudgement.

We see in the chapter summary that the first resurrection seems to be around the time of the second comming of Christ. We also see that the resurrection is the rapture. I would say that its the first resurrection that is the rapture.

(1 Thessalonians 4:17-18 [KJV])
 [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.
 [18] Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Those that are alive at that point are caught up together with the dead in Christ to meet the Lord in the air.

We see in Revelation that Jesus second coming is in Revelation 19.

Revelation 19
15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharpe sword, that with it hee should smite the nations: and he shal rule them with a rod of yron: and he treadeth the winepresse of the fiercenesse and wrath of Almighty God.

Then we see in Revelation 20 that the first resurrection happens just after Satan is bound and satan is bound happens just after jesus second coming.

Revelation CHAP. XX.
2 Satan bound for a thousand yeeres. 6 The first resurrection: they blessed that haue part therein. 7 Satan let loose againe. 8 Gog and Magog. 10 The deuil cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. 12 The last and generall resurrection.

Revelation 20
1 And I saw an Angel come down from heauen, hauing the key of the bottomles pit, & a great chaine in his hand.
2 And hee laid hold on the dragon that old serpent, which is the deuill and Satan, and bound him a thousand yeres,
3 And cast him into the bottomlesse pit, and shut him vp, and set a seale vpon him, that he should deceiue the nations no more, till the thousand yeeres should bee fulfilled: and after that hee must be loosed a little season.
4 And I saw thrones, and they sate vpon them, and iudgement was giuen vnto them: & I saw the soules of them that were beheaded for the witnesse of Iesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had receiued his marke vpon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they liued and reigned with Christ a thousand yeeres.
5 But the rest of the dead liued not againe vntill the thousand yeeres were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed & holy is he that hath part in þe first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be Priests of God, and of Christ, and shall reigne with him a thousand yeeres.
7 And when the thousand yeeres are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

We see in Revelation 20 that the first resurrection is just after Satan is bound and before that is Jesus second coming in Revelation 19.

The dead in Christ resurrected

(1 Thessalonians 4:15-16 [KJV])
 [15] For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
 [16] 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:

The dead go to heaven when they die

One way to understand 1Thess4:16 is that the dead go to heaven when they die.

So this Lord descending from heaven with a shout happens individually at the point of death to those who die before Jesus second coming and those that remain at Jesus second coming will be caught up in the air simultaneously.

So basically this is also why we see people in heaven already in revelation 4. Because dead people have individually been caught up at their point of death.

So basically how are we not to prevent (go before) them which die in Christ. Well by the fact that they are individually getting the shout from Jesus at their point of death.

The dead sleep until the resurrection

The other way to understand 1Thess4:16 is that the dead in Christ sleep or don't experience anything, neither space nor time, until its time for them to be caught up to heaven in the resurrection.

So from their personal experience perspective they go to heaven when they die. But from a historic time perspective they are caught up to heaven just before those that are alive (1 Thess 4:16-17).

“And you, in putting them [departed souls] in heaven, hell, and purgatory, destroy the arguments wherewith Christ and Paul prove the resurrection . . . And again, if the souls be in heaven, tell me why they be not in as good [a] case as the angels be? And then what cause [or reason] is there of the resurrection?” - William Tyndale 1530.

The people in heaven in Revelation 4 etc could then be explained as old testament saints.

The resurrection in other places in the bible

(John 10:3 [KJV]) To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

I think this is also talked about in John 10:3. He calleth his own sheep by name. So when you die in Christ, Jesus shouts from the sky and you are caught up in the air to heaven.

We also see it in Mark 13.

Mark 13 chapter summary
32 The houre whereof, beeing knowen to none, euery man is to watch and pray, that we be not found vnprouided, when he commeth to each one particularly by death.

Mark 13
 [32] But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
 [33] Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
 [34] For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
 [35] Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
 [36] Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
 [37] And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

You dont know when you are going to die and its then that you will be resurrected as a believer in Christ. Notice also that it is clearly stated in the chapter summary of Mark 13 that he cometh to each one particularly by death.

Who is taken out first?

(Matthew 24:31 [KJV]) And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

(Matthew 24:40-41 [KJV])
 [40] Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
 [41] Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

(Matthew 13:30 [KJV]) Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Mt13:30 seems to indicate that the tares are taken out first. So then the resurrection should be after that the tares are taken out, because the harvest I believe is some end time event like Jesus second coming.

(Luke 17:22-37 [KJV])
 [22] And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.
 [23] And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.
 [24] For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.
 [25] But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.
 [26] And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
 [27] They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
 [28] Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
 [29] But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
 [30] Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
 [31] In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.
 [32] Remember Lot’s wife.
 [33] Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
 [34] 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.
 [35] Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
 [36] Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
 [37] And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.

Luke 17:35 one shall be taken and the other left, that can sound like one shall be taken up to heaven and the other left but it could also sound like one shall be killed (by the angels) and the other left.

Luke 17:37 Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together, that sounds like there will be a dead body on the ground there. That could be explained by that its the tares taken out by the angels at the harvest and the tares dead bodies are lying there.

keep thee from the hour

Some people use John 3:10 claiming that this verse proves the pretrib rapture.

(Revelation of John 3:10 [KJV]) Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

But there are other ways that this verse can be explained.

Basically the way to explain "keep thee from the hour of temptation" is simply that there are a thousand ways other than the pre-trib rapture that can keep you from the hour of temptation. Like that you are physically saved out of it. For example maybe you manage to hide or someone protects you from trouble or since you stayed away from the religion of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet they don't manage to kill you or something else. It could be some supernatural intervention done by God to save you out of the trouble.

See also

• Postmillenial rapture
• Signe of the Sonne of man
• Alternative interpretation of the first resurrection

References

Footnotes