The Rapture: When the Church Goes Home (How Life Ends)

From 7/16/2005

• God first had attention for Israel but now it's on the Gentiles in a time where the church is to spread the gospel. But one day God will turn attention back to Israel (Rom 11:25)

• Illustration/analogy of the above seen in Ezekiel 37:1-14. Dry bones represent Israel (v11). The Lord gave them fleshly existence at first (v4-8) then takes the spirit from the winds, representing the gospel's spreading, calls it back home to the bones (v9-10,14).

• So when we hear of death = "going to sleep", it's not losing consciousness (because we are with the Lord!) but it's our bodies going to sleep until that day when God will take those bodies up as seed for the heavenly bodies (1 Cor 15:35-44,51-53, Ezekiel 37:11-14). When it says in 1 Cor 15:51 "we will not all sleep" it's because some will be living when Jesus comes back.

• Communion isn't just looking back but looking forward to that day. Unleavened bread represents sinless body.

• In Leviticus 23, we have six feasts. The first three have been fulfilled in Christ (The Passover & Unleavened Bread (v4-8), the First Fruits (v9-14), the Feast of Weeks (v15-22). Those are through crucifixion, ??, and Pentecost/acsension. Then come the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles. I don't quite get it but think it's cool that here's another OT prophecy being fulfilled in NT and beyond.