The Dead in Christ Arise FIRST
1 Thessalonians 4:15-16 .. we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (alt. come before) them which are asleep …. And the dead in Christ shall rise first …
What if this means what it says?
What if ‘the dead in Christ’ are raptured / caught up to Jesus sequentially first?
The rapture of the living saints follows this action. There is nothing here to indicate that this second rapture sequence is at the same instant as the action upon ‘the dead in Christ’. In fact, that is unlikely to be the case since they are described as being first – coming before, at another time.
Who are ‘the Dead in Christ’?
This is generally presumed to be a single event but this passage distinguishes two aspects of the event. Now let us move to the definition of ‘the dead in Christ’. They rise first.
Let us be literal. Rise is a word that indicates motion and direction – from lower to higher. It has been generally assumed that ‘the dead in Christ’ refers to those who died subsequent to their acceptance of salvation through Jesus. This interpretation is problematic.
Believers are ‘Present with the Lord’ Upon their Death
2 Corinthians 5: 6, 8 …while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. We are …willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
I take this to mean that those in faith who are absent from the body (the definition of natural death) are present with the Lord. The way for a soul’s entrance into the presence of God was made through the blood of Jesus.
How could a soul who died in faith (saved) be prevented from going immediately into God’s presence as St Paul describes it?
There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There is no possibility of incarceration in Hell or even in some spiritual construct we might invent. There is no possibility of separating one who dies in faith from the presence of God.
If they are in God’s presence already how can they move from a lower to a higher place before the rapture? They are already in the highest place – God’s presence.
Those Who ‘Meet Jesus in the Air’
The physical flesh of the living saints who meet Jesus in the air will come with them and they shall all be changed into their eternal bodies. ‘the dead in Christ’ could refer to the physical bodies of those saints who have already ascended to the presence of God at death through faith in Jesus. Their bodies could arise to be joined with them in Heaven.
The book of Revelations speaks about a time when the bodies of all those who have died will be restored to unity with their soul and spirit prior to the Final Judgment. They will be judged whole, with the shalom of their body soul and spirit. There is no reference to the bodies only, of the dead, being raised at the Rapture, except for those ‘living in Christ’.
This is an argument from silence rather than with support but there is likewise no support for the general assumption that the identity of ‘the dead in Christ’ consists of those already saved who have died.
Harvest of the Harrowed Souls
Souls who have been Harvested / Harrowed / raptured from Hell by the preaching of the gospel to them there by the Church do fit the definition of ‘the dead (who have now become) in Christ’ and who need to rise in order to meet Jesus in the air.
Waging War with Hell includes the prophecies that confirm this interpretation but that can hardly be accepted as a proof without confirmation. It is better if Biblical, logical or even reasonable evidence can be presented to support this conclusion.
The Season of Rapture has Begun
The season of preaching to those who died without ever receiving a credible presentation of the gospel has begun through the restoration of the knowledge that the Church has had for centuries, that this could be done, has been done and must be done.
This season will close with the catching away of the Church. It is an action and mission of the Church. After the Rapture, Israel will be entrusted with the preaching of the gospel in place of the Church. (I discuss this in depth in chapter 12 All Israel Shall Be Saved.)
The dead who (until this season) had not been in Christ, now become united to Him by accepting His covenant offer. They are raptured from their captivity in Hell by the action of salvation on their soul/spirit and they rise to meet the Lord in the air (first), not in Heaven but in the upper atmosphere of the earth.
The Last Great Mission Field of the Church
The souls, unjustly incarcerated in Hell because they never received their opportunity to decide on Jesus’ offer of salvation while they lived, must be dealt with before the rapture and removal of the Church because it is the Church and not Israel who was entrusted with the mandate of preaching to them – all people everywhere – Jesus said. This work must be finished before the deliverance of the earth from the rulership and influence of Satan.
Justice, in the form of Habeas Corpus for the unevangelized dead, must be accomplished before Jesus sets foot on the earth again and claims rulership over it.
I say this because if the dead who have been denied their right to presented with the gospel did continue in this unjust state while Jesus ruled the earth for 1,000 years – only to be given a hearing at the Final Judgment – then Jesus could be charged with wrongful imprisonment of those who would accept Him when given the opportunity.
They must all be processed before Jesus assumes responsibility for the rule of the earth. Jesus would not be the just King that He is named in Revelations if He were guilty of continuing their unexamined incarceration in Hell.
Harvest is a Season
Harvest requires a season if humans are to participate in it. Angels can harvest in the twinkling of an eye – people cannot but angels do not preach the gospel – people do. The rapture of the damned is a season. The rapture is a season. It has begun.
In Waging War with Hell, chapter 11, I lay out a more complete argument for the truth of this provocative statement.
