To: Hebraic-Foundations@yahoogroups.com
From: "Pastor Buddy Martin" <Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org>
Date: Mon, May 12, 2003 12:46 pm
Subject: [HF] Bible Study HF080
- The Church in all Her Glory
Hebraics,
Perhaps Moses said it best; "The secret (sathar = to hide or
conceal) things belong to the LORD our God, but the things
revealed (galah = to uncover) belong to us and to our sons forever,
that we may observe all the words of this law. (torah = divine
instruction." (Deu
29:29)
There is a particular doctrine that is a cause of concern for some. It
takes to itself the term 'rapture.' Let's look at it today and see if
any sense can be made of it from the Scriptures.
This is Bible Study HF080 - The Church in all Her Glory.
There is a principle in Biblical interpretation which says, 'The
tenses can make you or break you.' But it isn't simply the tenses, it
is also the understanding of Biblical terms. Listen to where our
subject title comes from. Paul said, "That He might present to
Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such
thing; but that she would be holy and blameless." (Eph
5:27)
Notice that Jesus will 'present to Himself' the Church in all her
glory. Let me bring out a bit of the technical, and then we can move
on. The statement 'present to Himself' is the Greek 'paristemi.' It is
a future action based on a present action (reality). The tense is
'transitively.' It refers to the bringing about of an action that is
based upon a completed action. The two actions are conceived as
a single whole. So 'presenting to Himself' means that Jesus will bring
into His presence that which has been given to Him.
Paul has this in mind when he says that we have been seated in
heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The seating is positional or a legal
standing, but the actual presentation happens at a future time.
When a person is born from above, God places in their spirit a 'pledge'
or, a
living witness, of their future inheritance with Jesus. This living
witness is called the seal of the Spirit.
There are lots of side roads we could take when it comes to the
idea of a 'rapture' of the church. But the key is to realize the
underlying flow of the Bible. The Bible has one subject. Miss this
subject and the Bible will always be a closed book. The subject is
the Lamb that was foreknown before the foundation of the world. All of
redemptive history wraps itself around the Lamb.
But why was the Lamb slain? We say for redemption, and that is
certainly the correct answer. But the answer goes deeper. The
Lamb gave Himself up for the Church (ekklesia.) The 'ekklesia' is
his espoused, or the Bride. This was the joy that was set before Jesus,
that caused Him to endure the cross. In this case, the Bride was
also foreknown before the foundation of the world.
And so we hear the apostle say, "He chose us in Him before the
foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless
before Him, in love." (Eph
1:4)
The point at hand is that while the Bible uses allegorical language,
and metaphorical language, and symbolic language, the story
of the Lamb and His Bride weaves itself throughout the sacred pages.
Notice how the Bible closes. Many Christians believe Revelation is about
the seven years called 'Jacob's troubles,' or the time of tribulation.
Notice what happens at the ending of the book, when the tribulation
is over.
The Bride is shown in all her glory. But where is she? John said,
"And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven
from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband." (Rev
21:2)
The Bride has been in heaven. When did she get there? We will see
more on this a little further down.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let me come back to the issue of
how the Bible wraps itself around the story of the Lamb and His
Bride. If you will notice, both the Old Testament and the New Testament,
in the beginnings and endings, draw attention to marriage. Genesis
opens with God presenting Adam with a bride. Malachi closes by including
God's reproof to man's treachery against the wife of his youth.
The New Testament shows the very first miracle of Jesus to be at a
wedding. But it ends with this beginning closure; "The Spirit and the
bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let
the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of
life without cost.'" (Rev
22:17)
When Malachi closes, the prophet is heard no longer for a period of
400 years. Then we hear a voice crying out in the wilderness;
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Thousands stream
to the
Jordan to be baptized by John. Why did He have such results? It was
because the peoples themselves were schooled in the prophets. They knew
the time was at hand.
But notice that when John is questioned by his disciples about
Jesus, he couches his response in the language of marriage; "You
yourselves are my witnesses that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but,
'I have been sent ahead of Him.' He who has the bride is the
bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears
him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. So this joy
of mine has been made full. He must increase, but I must
decrease." (John
3:28 -30)
May I draw attention once again to our deficiency in reading the
Scriptures. The Hebrew peoples knew that Messiah was to have a
bride. They new that the new covenant had to do with a marriage. They
had long looked at the covenant of Moses as covenant of marriage.
God married Israel at Sinai. This is why many Orthodox Jews today
resent Christians trying to lay hold of the covenant of Moses as belonging
to Christians. (Actually it doesn't. It doesn't even belong to the Jews.
The Bridegroom died.)
My point in all this is that if you can stay with the theme of the
Lamb and His Bride throughout the Scriptures, many questions
about the 'catching away' will be answered.
Lets now go to the upper room. As Jesus is speaking to the
apostles, he uses terms that are very familiar to them. This is most
evident in John
14, where Jesus says, "In My Father's house are
many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go
to
prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you
may be also."
The ancient wedding had two parts. It was called 'kiddushin' and
'nisuim.' Kiddushin, which also means holiness, was the espousal
period. The bride was betrothed. Paul said, "For I am jealous for
you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to
Christ I might present you as a pure virgin." (2
Cor 11:2)
In those times the betrothal was considered most sacred. It was
during this time that the groom went back to his father's home to
prepare a place for his new bride. The bride's whole life was then
filled with feelings for the coming of the groom. But she did not
know when he was to come. The groom could only come for the bride
when the Father decreed that everything was ready.
When the groom came for his bride, this was the nisuim. Nisuim
means 'lifting up.' Actually the Christian wedding is filled with
pictures of Christ and His Bride. When the groom lifts his bride to
carry her over the threshold into her new home, this is nisuim.
So when Jesus said, "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be
also,' this statement would have been understood by the apostle,
that is, in the sense of the wedding. They were schooled in Hebrew
understanding. But the interesting thing about nisuim is that it was
the mystery part of ancient marriage. No one but the Father knew
when this was to take place.
There is one issue I have left out because I didn't want to
encumber the study too much. It is crucial to understand that at the
cross, Israel's husband died. They had been in a state of divorce
for some time. In the resurrection came forth a new Man. This new
Man, that is the resurrected Jesus Christ, would have a new bride with a
new covenant that would be suitable to the new creation. But this
was God's plan from the beginning. It was all set forth before the
foundation of the world.
To complete the study for now, let me draw attention to a word that
is most important to the doctrine of the rapture. It is the word
'harpazo.' This word speaks of translocation where the subject is
quickly moved from one place to another. To elaborate in depth on
this word would stretch this study beyond what I want to cover at this
point. However, I am going to provide an addendum right behind
this study so that our members can further explore this word for
themselves.
I want to thank Arne Halbakken, our good Lutheran pastor member,
for providing what I will use as the forthcoming addendum. It saved
me a lot of work. Thank you very much Arne.
The study is open. Please feel free to comment. I also ask you to
do one other thing --- Simply consider carefully what I have shared.
There is nothing more damaging to spiritual growth than a closed
mind. And, finally, I'm not attempting to change anyone's view about the
rapture. I simply want to show its Biblical relevance.
So remember what Moses said, "The secret (sathar = to hide or
conceal) things belong to the LORD our God, but the things
revealed (galah = to uncover) belong to us and to our sons forever,
that we may observe all the words of this law (torah = divine
instruction)." (Deu
29:29)
Did not Paul say that the church was one of God's secret things?
He said, "This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to
Christ and the church." (Eph
5:32)
The Lord bless you,
Buddy
Lawrence E. (Buddy) Martin, HF Host
email: Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org
Web: http://www.christianchallenge.org/
"See to it that no one comes short of the grace
of God; that no root of bitterness springing up
causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (Heb12:15)