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“So Kyle is really going to teach about the rapture? Huh?” Jayn was at church planting flowers in the memorial planter out front. “There seems to be so much negative stuff out there about it! And I heard that the word ‘rapture’ is not even in the Bible.” Right there, out in front, we held a short “Bible Study discussion.” No, the word Rapture is not in the Bible… neither is the word Trinity, or if you want to be technical… neither is any other English word! It was all written in Greek and Hebrew and Aramaic. But the Greek word “harpazo” is. And it could have easily been translated “rapture” if we were speaking Latin! The word Rapture is a Latin word. We call it the “catching away” of the church. It’s in there. And yes there is a lot of negative stuff out there about it. However, what I have discovered is that most of the criticism is aimed at people who believe in the rapture, and only a small portion of that is discussion about Scripture itself… why is that? Could it be that Paul believed in the harpazo?
Today's Scripture reading is 2 Samuel 8; Jonah 2; Mark 15:1-1-20
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.podbean.com - Archives can be found at http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com
Today’s thought comes from Genesis 15:9-18 So God said to Abram, "Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." 10 Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two… 17 And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. 18 On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates”
This is one of the weirdest ceremonies ever recorded in the Bible! It is a ceremony which would gross out even strongest of Vegans! What is this about! You’re never going to believe it… it was the strongest possible way of solemnizing a Middle Eastern oath back in the day of Abraham. There are three essential covenants (or oaths) in the Old Testament… The Abrahamic Covenant of Blessing, The Davidic Covenant of the Messianic Seed, and now, back to Abraham for what we call “The Palestinian Covenant of the Land.” …Land, Seed, Blessing. All three find their basis of fulfillment in the promises made to Abraham. The Palestinian Covenant is no exception. God promised the land of “Palestine” specifically to the nation of Israel in Genesis 15. How do we know that? Get your Bible out and read the verses I didn’t print above; 11-16. There God lays out a prophecy of promise. “Abraham’s descendents will be slaves for 400 years in a foreign land. Then after the 4th generation they’d return to Palestine to take the land.” Historically, who fulfilled that prophecy? You got it! The nation Israel. But they have never possessed all the land promised to them! God said that one day their little 8000 square mile nation would possess the land all the way down to Egypt South and from the Euphrates River to the east! How much land is that? It is a small portion of Egypt, half of Iraq, all of Jordan, about a third of Saudi Arabia, three quarters of Syria and all of Lebanon! Those are fighting words! Do you think those nations are ever going to cede their land to the Jews? No way Jose! Not in this life! That’s because it is a prophecy yet unfulfilled. Just as the nation of Israel spent 400 years in Egypt and returned as prophesied, so they will one day possess all that land… in what we call the “Millennial Reign of Christ.” God gave this oath in the serious, solemn way possible. He cut 5 animals in half and laid them out on two sides with a path between them. Then He, in the picturesque form of a torch walked between them. In Middle Eastern terms this would have meant, “If I (God) ever fail to fulfill my oath may my life be like the lives of these animals… slain and cut in two!” That’s pretty strong language. Look to the future. One day God intends to fulfill this stunning prophecy!
Dear Father. I am surprised at how serious you are about keeping your word. The possibility of it sometimes is staggering and beyond my understanding. It doesn’t seem possible. But you know the times, you understand the future. I’m going to leave all that up to you and trust you for the future as you have been faithful in the past.
Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
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