It was amazing. Last night I turned on a Christian TV station, and they were playing the first movie in the "Left Behind" series. I just happened to tune in while Kirk Cameron was on a plane, and suddenly half the passengers were gone. Just their clothes are lying in the seats. People are crying and screaming. He is super confused - what has happened?
I used to love this series. Now, after studying Torah, I look at it in wonderment. Really, where has everyone gone in this rapture of people? To heaven? To somewhere? And who really is left?
I remember one time explaining to someone about Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew). I was telling them that he would come back someday. "Well," I said, "He is actually coming back twice. Once He comes halfway to gather us up to heaven. And then again, when he comes for the millennium." As soon as these words got out of my mouth, I had a check in my Spirit. Something was just not right about what I was saying. Where in the Word does it say he is coming back twice? Or really is it 1 1/2 times? That's when I began to pray, study, and go on a quest for the Truth.
The word "rapture" is a relatively new term in the Christian world. Some say no one talked about such a thing until the 1800's. This was a time when people thought they were getting a revelation about the end times and His return.
But, actually, the gathering up of His people finds its roots in the Torah, before any modern interpretation.
Deuteronomy 30:3 "That Adonai your Elohim will bring you back from captivity and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where Hashem your Elohim has scattered you."
And continuing in verse 4, "If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there A your Elohim will gather you and from there He will bring you."
You see, we are not going to be gathered to heaven. We are going to be gathered to Jerusalem. Where the King will enter through the Eastern Gate from the Mount of Olives, where he will have descended. And there He will reign forever. (Ezekiel 43:4) He isn't coming "halfway" to get us. Somehow, He gathers us from the east, west, south, and north. And brings us to His Home on earth, Israel.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 "For Hahsem Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of Elohim. And the dead in Mashiach (Messiah) will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet Hashem in the air. And thus we shall always be with Elohim." Those who remain will meet with HaShem (blessed be His Name). They are not "left behind", they are gathered. Isn't that so marvelous? And we will be gathered to where He will always be. Forever.
If we could only grasp our final destination. Where are we headed for all of eternity? It is Jerusalem. And specifically the Temple. Where Yeshua, the Messiah, will sit on the throne. To rule and reign forever. We will be serving him there.
That is our goal. That is where we want to be. Not just gathered up in the clouds, but gathered with him to the Temple. Oh, how I wish this were taught.
Yeshua taught us correctly in Matthew 24:29-31: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He (Hashem) will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." We will be gathered to Yeshua, and brought to his final destination - the Temple in Jerusalem.
So, that should be our prayer. To join him soon in Jerusalem. Not to worry if one day we wake up and our kids or our church friends have disappeared. But to sincerely repent and pray that we are worthy because of repentance and grace to be there with him.
Think about this when the next Yom Teruah comes (Feast of Trumpets). This could be the year. This could be the final trumpet blast when we hear the sound of the shofars, blowing across the land. And if it isn't this year, let us pray that it is next year. Just like our Jewish brothers and sisters have been praying for centuries, "Next year Jerusalem!"