And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 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. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
Luke 17:26-30
The rapture. Some love it. More hate it. Most deny it. Many consider it false doctrine. Yet, the Bible clearly teaches it with direct scriptural evidenced interpretation and with many types and shadows. Not only is it a New Testament doctrine, but, to the chagrin of many rapture haters, it is also an Old Testament teaching. To say that it is a recent addition to the list of Christian doctrines brought about by a girl's dreams in the 1800s is to clearly ignore scripture. Furthermore, it seems clear from the Old testament types and scriptures that speak of its timing, it is a pre-tribulational rapture; an idea which also leads to many passionate arguments among believer's in the rapture. The Lord will remove His church before He allows the final seven years of Daniel's seventy weeks to commence signalled by the signing of a peace treaty between Israel and the Antichrist as described in Daniel 9:24-27.
In the series titled "The Rapture in the Old Testament" the three texts examined all alluded to a hiding from Divine anger for those faithful to God. Isaiah testifies that the faithful will be hidden and the dead shall raise to life before the indignation of God's wrath is poured out. Zephaniah agrees with Isaiah saying that the meek of the earth (evidence of a universal event) will be hid as a treasure during the Day of the LORD's anger in Zephaniah 2:1-3. Finally, Psalm 27 also tells of a hidden, treasured people and it associates itself with the timing of the Tribulation and return of Jesus by association with the Jewish Fall High Holy Days.
However, the Greatest Prophet, the very target of all Bible Prophecy, Messiah Jesus, himself, teaches on the rapture and gives us an outline with His association of the days of Noah and Lot as related to the Tribulation and the day of His return to battle the Antichrist's forces at Armageddon while saving His blood relatives, the nation of Israel. Those days of tribulation, Daniel's seventieth week, prepare the world for His revelation to Israel as their Messiah. All the world will then see Him as the blessed redeemer of Mount Calvary. They will also see Him in his awesome ferocity as the Captain of the LORD's hosts, a Man of War (Exodus 15:3)! He will forever reign as King of Kings from Jerusalem. He will ever serve as humanity's Priest of Priests from the His holy temple. He will forever proclaim the Truth, as He is the Divine truth giver, the Prophet of Prophet's. Immanuel--God with us--will reign supreme! Jesus' hints found in those two events recorded in Genesis relay valuable information. They are shadows of judgement on the earth and a prior escape for the faithful.
Both of these shadows are all encompassing of complete judgement on godlessness. They speak to much more than just a rapture. However, in both stories, there are evidences of a rapture before the Day of the LORD even as was clearly referenced in the above Old Testament verses. In the wicked days of Noah, God sent the inhabitants of the earth a holy witness who faithfully proclaimed a coming universal judgment. Noah worked and preached repentance until the day the ark was ready. When God gave the word, Noah and his family entered the ark and safely rode out the storm and gave the world a new beginning. Yet, Noah is not the entire shadow. He tends to remind us of the Faithful Ones family that is shielded throughout the Tribulation even as is testified to in the Book of Revelation. Noah is symbolic of Israel and a select few gentiles (son's brides) riding through the storm of the Day of the Lord and then being allowed to start life in a new age. That new antediluvian world is a direct shadow of the rebuilding of the world after the Tribulation during the millennial reign of Christ. Furthermore, Noah is the 10th from Adam according to scripture. Ten is a biblical number symbolizing completion. Remember, Daniel says the end of the Seventy weeks brings completion (see Daniel 9:24).
It was the seventh from Adam, Enoch, the great grandfather of Noah who foreshadowed the pre-tribulational rapture of the church. Like the church walks with Christ, Enoch walked with God. He is the first rapture of scripture. He also clearly warned the world that a time of tribulation, a flood of God's righteous indignation, would be poured out. Enoch was so sure of the impending flood that he named his son Methuselah. In Hebrew, the name means "the man of the dart" or "his death shall bring." Clearly, Enoch was preparing for a time of Great Tribulation for the world. He prophesied that the death of his son, Methuselah would bring about the flood shortly after. One Jewish tradition found in the Masoretic Text teaches that Methuselah died 7 days (allusion to the seven years of tribulation?) before the rapture. This 7th man (a biblically significant number speaking of perfection) was taken to heaven alive before the terror of the flood. He is not only the 1st rapture in scripture, he is also the first shadow of a pre-tribulational rapture in scripture.
We will look at the days of Lot in the next post. I will also share some news then. Due to a surgery last Monday and some following complications, I have not had much time to read the news. God bless! I adjure you to be like Enoch--walk with God and wait patiently for the day He takes you. That day is Soon 2Come!
And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
Genesis 5:24
