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One of the great controversies of the end times is the debate over whether there will be a pre-tribulation rapture, mid-tribulation rapture, post-tribulation rapture, or no rapture at all. This article will chronologically number the supernatural transports that have occurred and the numerous rapture events that are prophesied to occur.
THE SUPERNATURAL TRANSPORTS
The supernatural transports were rapture-like events, which were transports of individuals throughout time to various places. The various raptures will be events that transport the saints to the presence of Yeshua (Jesus) and will transform humans from corrupted flesh human beings into incorruptible eternal spirit beings (1 Corinthians 15:51-53).
No person, including Enoch, Elijah. Moses, Mary, or the penitent criminal who hung on a cross beside Yeshua (Jesus) has ever has ascended to heaven, God’s dwelling place. This is confirmed by the words of Yeshua Messiah (Jesus Christ).
JOHN 3:13 (NKJV):
“No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man.”
1. THE SUPERNATURAL TRANSPORT OF ENOCH
GENESIS 5:24 (NKJV):
And Enoch walked with God; AND HE WAS NOT, FOR GOD TOOK HIM.
HEBREWS 11:5 (NKJV):
By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
Many persons have read their preconceived belief onto Genesis 5:24 and Hebrews 11:5, believing that Enoch did not die and God took him to heaven.
GENESIS 5:24 (NKJV) [INCORRECT UNDERSTANDING]:
And Enoch walked with God [BLAMELESS], and he was not [DEAD], for God took him [TO HEAVEN].
GENESIS 5:24 (NKJV) [CORRECT UNDERSTANDING]:
And Enoch walked with God [BLAMELESS], and he was not [FOUND AMONG THE DEAD], for God took him [TO HIS HOLY MOUNTAIN].
HEBREWS 11:5 (NKJV) [INCORRECT UNDERSTANDING]:
By faith Enoch was taken away [TO HEAVEN] so that he did not see [KNOW] death, “and was not found [ON EARTH], because God had taken him [TO HEAVEN]”; for before he was taken [TO HEAVEN] he had this testimony [OF FAITH], that he pleased God.
HEBREWS 11:5 (NKJV) [CORRECT UNDERSTANDING]::
By faith Enoch was taken away [TO GOD’S HOLY MOUNTAIN] so that he did not see [PERCEIVE] death, “and was not found [AMONG THE DEAD], because God had taken him [TO HIS HOLY MOUNTAIN]”; for before he was taken [TO GOD’S HOLY MOUNTAIN] he had this testimony [OF FAITH], that he pleased God.
Where did God take Enoch? The Scriptures do not proclaim this for sure, but in all likelihood God took Enoch to His holy mountain, His dwelling place on Earth where He appeared to Moses, Mount Zion. Enoch would have lived out the rest of his days at God’s holy mountain and then died there as is appointed for all men to die (Proverbs 31:8; Hebrews 9:27). Enoch was a righteous man, but not without sin, so he died peacefully after living out the rest of his earthly days with God on His holy mountain.
2. THE SUPERNATURAL TRANSPORT OF ELIJAH
2 KINGS 2:11 (NKJV):
Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
Elijah did not go up to heaven, God’s dwelling place, but to heaven, a duel reference, which sometimes refers to the Earth’s firmament, atmosphere, or sky.
GENESIS 1:8 (NKJV):
And God called the firmament Heaven.
It was during this supernatural transport to the sky, on a chariot of fire, that Elijah, along with Moses, was supernaturally transported to the transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9).
3. THE SUPERNATURAL TRANSPORT OF MOSES
EXODUS 33:17-19 (NKJV):
So YHWH (the Lord) said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.”
And he (Moses) said, “Please, show me Your glory.”
Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you.
It was sometime during Moses’ time up on Mount Sinai, when receiving the Ten Commandments, that he, along with Elijah, was supernaturally transported to the transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9).
4. THE SUPERNATURAL TRANSPORT OF YESHUA (JESUS)
LUKE 4:28-30 (NKJV):
So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.
Yeshua (Jesus) preached in a synagogue in Jerusalem and proclaiming Scripture fulfilled, that He was the anointed One (Luke 4:18). Those in the synagogue wanted to kill Yeshua (Jesus) for saying this, and they would have, but it was not His appointed time to die. Yeshua (Jesus) supernaturally transported Himself through the midst of those who wanted to kill Him.
JOHN 20:19-31 (NKJV):
Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, WHEN THE DOORS WERE SHUT where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Yeshua (Jesus) came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
So Yeshua (Jesus) said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Yeshua (Jesus) came. The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Yeshua (Jesus) came, THE DOORS BEING SHUT, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
Yeshua (Jesus) said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
And truly Yeshua (Jesus) did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Yeshua is the Messiah (Jesus is the Christ), the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
Yeshua (Jesus) was twice supernaturally transported into a closed-door assembly meeting room of the disciples and then stood in the midst of them. This supernatural transport to stand in the midst of His disciples assembled inside a closed-door room was recorded as a miraculous sign; among many other signs Yeshua (Jesus) did (John 20:30-31).
THE RAPTURES
Yeshua (Jesus) was the first to be raptured to heaven, God’s dwelling place, and sit at the right hand of the Father. Subsequent raptures are prophesied to occur, beginning with the American pre-tribulation rapture and ending with the last beheaded raptured saint.
1. THE RAPTURE OF YESHUA (JESUS)
MARK 16:19 (NKJV):
So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was RECEIVED UP into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
LUKE 24:51 (NKJV):
Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and CARRIED UP into heaven.
ACTS 1:2 (NKJV):
He was TAKEN UP, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen.
1 TIMOTHY 3:16 (NKJV):
God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, RECEIVED UP in glory.
REVELATION 12:5 (NKJV) [WITH INTERPRETATION]:
And her Child [YESHUA (JESUS)] was CAUGHT UP to God and His throne.
Yeshua (Jesus) was carried up, caught up, received up, taken up, or in other words He was raptured and then seated at God’s right hand in the throne room of heaven.
2. THE RAPTURE OF 144,000 MESSIANIC JEWS IN ISRAEL
REVELATION 14:1-5 (NKJV) [WITH INTERPRETATION]:
Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb [YESHUA (JESUS)] standing ON MOUNT ZION, AND WITH HIM ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR THOUSAND [ISRAELI JEWS] having His Father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand WHO WERE REDEEMED FROM THE EARTH. These are the ones who were not defiled with women [THROUGH FORNICATION OR ADULTERY], for they are virgins [OF THE WICKED WAYS OF THE WORLD]. These are the ones who follow the Lamb [YESHUA (JESUS)] wherever He goes. These were REDEEMED FROM AMONG MEN, being first fruits to God and to the Lamb [YESHUA (JESUS)]. And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.
The 144,000 persons of Revelation 14 are righteous, Torah-obedient, Messianic Jews. The 144,000 number represents 12,000 Jews sealed from the 12 tribes of Israel (Revelation 7:4-8). These are Messianic Jews who are living in Israel, accept Yeshua Messiah (Jesus Christ) as their Messiah and Savior, and are redeemed from Israel and perhaps some other parts of the Earth, and will be raptured to the Lord’s holy mountain in Israel.
There are an estimated 15,000 Messianic Jews living in Israel as of 2011. This number will increase tenfold through Messianic Jews immigrating to Israel, the conversion of Talmudic and secular Jews to Messianic Jews, and through childbirth, to reach the necessary 144,000. In Israel, Messianic Jews live righteously in religious communities, they marry virgins, are undefiled by sexual immorality, and they are separated from the sinful ways of the world.
At the fall of America (Babylon the great), the great tribulation begins. The Messiah- denying Jews will have to live through the great tribulation, as they have refused to accept Yeshua (Jesus) as their Messiah and Savior, but the righteous, Torah obedient, Yeshua (Jesus) accepting Jews will be spared from the great panic and tribulation that will occur in Israel after the fall of America (Babylon the great), as they will be raptured to the Lord’s holy mountain, Mount Zion.
3. THE AMERICAN PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE
ISAIAH 18:5 (NKJV) [WITH INTERPRETATION]:
For before the harvest [THE AMERICAN PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE BEFORE THE WORLDWIDE HARVEST (RAPTURE)], when the bud [TIMING] is perfect and the sour grape [THE HOMOSEXUAL GENERATION] is ripening [AGING] in the flower [AMERICAN MAINSTREAM CULTURE], He [GOD] will both cut off the sprigs [AMERICAN SAINTS] with pruning hooks and take away [RAPTURE THEM] and cut down [DESTROY] the branches [MAINSTREAM SPIRITUALLY UNRIGHTEOUS AMERICANS].
Righteous American saints will be taken in a pre-tribulation rapture, just before the United States is destroyed, and transported to the Lord’s holy mountain (Isaiah 18:7).
4. THE RAPTURE OF THE DEAD IN MESSIAH (CHRIST), AND
5. THE RAPTURE OF THE LIVING SAINTS OF THE WORLD
JOHN 11:25-26 (NKJV):
YESHUA (Jesus) said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live [AT THE RESURRECTION AND RAPTURE OF THE DEAD SAINTS TO THE CLOUDS]. And whoever lives and believes in Me [IS ALIVE WHEN I COME TO THE CLOUDS] shall never die [AS THE LIVING SAINTS WILL BE RAPTURED AND WILL NEVER EXPERIENCE DEATH]. Do you believe this?”
1 CORINTHIANS 15:51-52 (NKJV):
Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep [DIE], but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and THE DEAD WILL BE RAISED INCORRUPTIBLE, and we [WHO ARE ALIVE] shall be changed.
1 THESSALONIANS 4:15-17 (NKJV):
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are ALIVE AND REMAIN until the coming of the Lord [TO THE CLOUDS] will by no means precede those who are asleep [DEAD]. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven [TO THE CLOUDS] with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Messiah (Christ) will rise first. Then we who are ALIVE AND REMAIN shall be caught up together with them [THE DEAD] IN THE CLOUDS to meet the Lord IN THE AIR. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
2 THESSALONIANS 2:1-4 (NKJV) [WITH INTERPRETATION]:
Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Yeshua Messiah (Jesus Christ) and our gathering together to Him [IN THE CLOUDS], we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Messiah (Christ) had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day [OF THE WORLD RAPTURE] will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin [THE ANTIMESSIAH (ANTICHRIST)] is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the [REBUILT] temple of God [IN ISRAEL], showing himself that he is God.
The resurrection and rapture of the dead in Messiah (Christ), followed by the resurrection of the living saints of the world, will occur after the great tribulation, after the Antimessiah (Antichrist) rises to power and sits in the rebuilt temple in Israel and declares himself to be God. The raptured living saints will have survived the great tribulation, but are raptured from the Earth before the Antimessiah (Antichrist) imposes his 666 mark of the beast in order to buy and sell, and beheads anyone who does not receive the mark (Revelation 20:4).
6. THE RAPTURE OF THE LEFT BEHIND BEHEADED SAINTS
REVELATION 6:9-11 (NKJV) [WITH INTERPRETATION]:
When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain [BY GUILLOTINE] for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You [RETURN TO EARTH AND] judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then a white robe was given to each of them [IN THE CLOUDS]; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed [BEHEADED]as they were, was completed.
REVELATION 14:13 (NKJV) [WITH INTERPRETATION]:
Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord [ARE BEHEADED OR OTHERWISE DIE] from now on [AFTER THE ANTIMESSIAH (ANTICHRIST) REIGN BEGINS].’”
REVELATION 20:4 (NKJV):
Then I saw the souls of those WHO HAD BEEN BEHEADED for their witness to Yeshua (Jesus) and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Messiah (Christ) for a thousand years.
The left behind persons of the world are those who were not taken in the world rapture. Some left behind persons will be professing believers, but some sin will hold them back from being acceptable to be taken up by God. After the great tribulation years, when the Antimessiah (Antichrist) rises to power and begins his seven-year reign (Daniel 9:27), he will impose upon the world his mark of the beast. The left behind saints will refuse to receive his mark and will be beheaded for their faith. Anyone who comes to faith and lives righteously during the reign of the Antimessiah (Antichrist) and is beheaded or otherwise dies, will be blessed by being instantly raptured to the clouds. While there, they will grow impatient for the Lord to avenge their blood, and they will be told to be patient and wait until the last left behind saint is beheaded, as they were.
7. THE RAPTURE OF THE TWO WITNESSES IN ISRAEL
REVELATION 11:3-12 (NKJV) [WITH INTERPRETATION]:
And I will give power to my two witnesses [WHO WILL TESTIFY OF YESHUA (JESUS) TO THE MESSIAH-DENYING JEWS OF ISRAEL], and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days [DURING THE FIRST 3 1⁄2 YEARS OF THE COVENANT PEACE TREATY THE ANTIMESSIAH (ANTICHRIST) MAKES WITH ISRAEL – DANIEL 9:27], clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands standing before the God of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.
When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended [WERE RAPTURED] to heaven [THE CLOUDS] in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.
God will have two witnesses testify before the nation of Israel near their rebuilt temple site. God calls for two witnesses to establish a matter (Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:15; Matthew 18:16; 1 Timothy 5:19; Hebrews 10:28). Thus two witnesses will testify before the nation of Israel after Israel makes a covenant peace treaty with the Antimessiah (Antichrist), but before he breaks the covenant and invades Israel. These witnesses will testify to the Jews in Israel of the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) who they rejected. After the testimony of the two witnesses is completed, they will be killed, lie in the street for 3 1⁄2 days, be resurrected to life by God, and then raptured to the clouds to join Yeshua (Jesus) and the other resurrected and raptured saints in the air.
8. A GREAT MULTITUDE OF THE RAPTURED SAINTS ARE GATHERED TOGETHER IN THE CLOUDS
REVELATION 7: 9-17 (NKJV) [WITH INTERPRETATION]:
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb [YESHUA (JESUS)], clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb [YESHUA (JESUS)]!” All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:
“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,
Be to our God forever and ever.
Amen.”
Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”
And I said to him, “Sir, you know.”
So he said to me, “These are the ones [RAPTURED] WHO COME OUT OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb [YESHUA (JESUS)]. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb [YESHUA (JESUS)] who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters [UPON HIS RETURN TO EARTH DURING HIS MILLENNIUM KINGDOM REIGN – REVELATION 20:4, 22:1-2]. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes [REVELATION 21:4].”
The raptured dead and living saints will spend up to two decades in the clouds with the Lord Yeshua (Jesus), as they wait out the great tribulation years and the seven-year reign of the Antimessiah (Antichrist), before Yeshua (Jesus) returns with His saints to Earth.
9. THE RETURN OF YESHUA (JESUS) WITH TEN THOUSANDS OF HIS SAINTS
MATTHEW 24:31 (NKJV) [WITH INTERPRETATION]:
“And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect [THE RAPTURED SAINTS] FROM THE FOUR WINDS [THE CLOUDS], from one end of heaven [THE SKY] to the other.”
1 THESSALONIANS 3:12-13 (NKJV):
And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the COMING OF OUR LORD YESHUA MESSIAH (JESUS CHRIST) WITH ALL HIS SAINTS.
JUDE 1:14-15 (NKJV):
“Behold, the Lord COMES WITH TEN THOUSANDS OF HIS SAINTS, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”
Yeshua (Jesus) will return to Earth after Israel is overtaken by the Antimessiah (Antichrist) and the armies of the world. The Jews of Israel will call upon Him to save them in their darkest hour and then the Lord Yeshua Messiah (Jesus Christ) will gather the elect from the four winds and return to Earth with ten thousands of His raptured saints to save the Jews of Israel from annihilation.
1. Maoz Israel, “Messianic Jews,” 2011,
<http://www.maozisrael.org/site/PageServer?pagename=messianic_jews>
