Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike555
Not all. There will be a generation of church-age believers who will be raptured and not experience physical death. Their bodies will simply be transformed into bodies of immortality and incoruptibility. 1 Corinthians 15:50-55 with 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by littlewitness
What do you mean by "raptured"?
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To be raptured means to be caught up or snatched away. The English word 'rapture' is taken from the Latin word 'rapiemur' which is a translation of the Greek word 'ἁρπάζω which is transliterated as harpazó.
Harpazó is used in Revelation 12:5 for the male child with reference to Jesus being caught up to God and to His throne.
Revelation 12:5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up (ἡρπάσθη - hērpasthē; Aorist Passive Indicative, 3rd Person Singular of harpazó) to God and to His throne.
Harpazó is used by Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:2 regarding the time he was caught up into the third heaven.
2 Corinthians 12:2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago-- whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows-- such a man was caught up (ἁρπαγέντα - harpagenta; Aorist Participle Passve, Accusative Masculine Singular of Harpazó) to the third heaven.
And Harpazó is used by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 regarding the future catching up of the church.
1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up (ἁρπαγησόμεθα - harpagēsometha; Future Passive Indicative, 1st Person Plural of Harpazó) together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
What I mean then by ''raptured'' is that according to Paul there will be a generation of church-age believers who will not experience physical death because they will be caught up into the air, and then taken up into heaven. Paul places the rapture or catching up of the church before the Day of the Lord to which he refers in
1 Thessalonians chapter 5. The Day of the Lord begins with the Tribulation in which God will pour out His wrath or judgment upon the nations of the earth.