SO, THE SECRET RAPTURE IS RIGHT AFTER ALL !
THE WORD RAPTURE COULD NOT BE FOUND IN THE BIBLE. But other words that convey
a similar meaning can be found in the scriptural text. To be raptured means to be “caught up” to meet our
Savior in the air. This is what the Apostle Paul meant when he said that when Christ comes for His church,
“the saints will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4: 17).
It could also mean to snatch out or to catch away. This is also what Christian writers and Bible
commentators have in mind when they described the most glorious event in all Christian history – the
return of Christ for the first time to take righteous Christians to heaven where they will be with Him for
the wedding ceremony. “Let us be glad and rejoice and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb
has come, and His wife has made herself ready” (Revelation 19:7).
The Worldwide Church of God and the many splintered groups that came out of it after its
devastating disintegration a few years after the death of its founder the late Pastor General Herbert W.
Armstrong scorned and abhorred the idea of the rapture even to this day. They believe that God gave his
people seven annual festivals and holy days to keep them constantly in the understanding of His great plan
of redemption. These commanded festivals and holy days are clearly drawn in Leviticus 23 of the Books
of the law of Moses. Leviticus derived its name from the tribe of Levy whose descendants were entrusted
with the Leviticual priesthood. True Christians in the New Testament church who are gifted with the
miracle of an opened mind understand that they carry vitally important symbolism and meaning.
It is to be emphasize then, that the general view presented here in relation to God's appointed
Festivals and Holy Days are purely the long standing belief of the WCG. Lately, somehow, new revelation
straight from the word of God surfaced that somewhat changed, in more ways than one, the thinking and
belief of a minute few who have grown in grace and knowledge of the mysteries surrounding one of the
most delicate issues that has troubled religious people down through the ages.
The first of these seven annual Festivals and Holy Days is the Passover which pictures the death
of Christ for the remission of sins (Romans 3:25). It is followed by the Feast of Unleavened bread which
pictures our continuing exodus from Egypt (sin).
We are still human beings and we have been slaves to sin. We are powerless to deliver ourselves
from it. Now that we have been delivered from sin and had now become spiritually unleavened we must
eat unleavened bread for the inclusive period of the feast symbolic of our sincere commitment to remain
unleavened for the rest of our lives. “For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are
sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14). That is primarily the reason why we are to follow Passover with the Feast of
the Days of Unleavened Bread.
This seven day Feast of Unleavened Bread also pictures the life and work of the risen Christ – who
ascended to the throne of God where He is now actively at work interceding in our behalf as our high
priest, cleansing us of sin.
The third step in God's redemptive plan of salvation is the Feast of first-fruits. It is also called of
the Feast of Weeks. The New Testament church calls it Pentecost – meaning the fiftieth, “And ye shall
count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave
offering; seven Sabbaths shall ye count....” (Leviticus 23:15).
And that day after the morrow when seven Sabbaths have been completed is the fiftieth day where
Pentecost derived its name. It was on this day when the New Testament church was born. “And you shall
proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It
shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations”(Leviticus 15:21).
The symbolic meaning behind the observance of Pentecost is to inculcate in our minds that today
is but only a day God is saving the world. God today is calling only a few (John 6:44) who will soon
compose the pillar of His future spiritual government in the Kingdom of God.“But ye are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people that ye should show forth the praise of
Him who hath called you out of darkness unto His marvelous light”(1 Peter 2:9). They are the firstfruits
of God's spiritual harvest of souls.
Then comes the fourth of these commanded assembly – The Feast of Trumpets when Christ shall
come again, in the cloud, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God (1
Thessalonians 4: 14-17). “Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall
be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15: 51-52).
At the sound of the seventh trumpet, announcing the return of Jesus Christ with His Bride, the
Pentecost firstfruit of God's plan will be resurrected to immortal life. God will then have reaped the
smaller spiritual harvest of mankind. Those who will have received eternal life will then begin to serve
Christ in ruling the earth (Revelation 20: 6) and reaping the much greater spiritual harvest during and
after the millennium.
The next step is the day of Atonement. Humanity at last at one with His creator. It can also be called
the day of Reconciliation. We have been separated from God because of sin and Christ had to die on the
stake so that whosoever will repent of their sins and submit themselves to the will of God may find grace
in His sight. “For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him
shall not perish but will have eternal life” ( John 3:16).
The Day of Atonement is followed by the Feast of Tabernacles, the 1000 year reign of Christ
together with the saints when the “devil and Satan who deceived the whole world is now bound for almost
the same period of time. The festival is also called the Feast of Ingathering or the great harvest of souls
in the millennium. With God's Holy Spirit now available to all a colossal transformation begins that slowly
change the face of the globe. The way of God now reign supreme in hearts of men and slowly the entire
planet regains its former glory and splendour. “And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day
it shall be – the Lord is one, and His name one and Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited” (Zechariah 14:
9,11).
“And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem
shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles”
(Zechariah 14: 16). Lastly,“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if
any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believe on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of
his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake He of the spirit which they that believed on Him
should receive for the Holy Spirit was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:37-39).
The Last Great Day pictures the time when all who died in ignorance will be given an opportunity
to receive salvation. The eight day which immediately follows the seven days Feast of Tabernacles pictures
the completion of His plan of redemption. All people of all nations and races will be resurrected, young and
old alike. They will live for a hundred years and judgment commence to everyone In the end, the
incorrigible wicked will be destroyed and punished in the lake of fire. “We have finally come to the
beginning.”
There can be no question that the rapture will take place. The idea is solidly supported in the Holy
Scripture. Contradicting views for many years, however, had raised varying school of thoughts. Most
professing Christians believe that Christ came to this earth once as a sacrificial Lamb of God and will come
twice more, the first time to snatch away the saints and the second time to take over the rulership of the
earth from the god of darkness and usher the establishment of the long announced good news of the
millennial kingdom of God.
The rapture of the saints – supposedly occurring on the first phase of Christ two-part coming is
what they call the secret rapture. Secret in the sense that no one knows when it will happen “as a thief in
the night” (2 Peter 3: 10) that will strike us in our most unguarded moments. The event is supposedly
accompanied by no visible sign except the disappearance of the saints. “Watch therefore, for ye know
neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh” (Matthew 25:13).
Yet, in the same discourse, referring to the same event of Christ second coming we will find in the
Olivet prophecy what appears to be a seemingly contradictory verses against 2 Peter 3:10 and Matthew
25:13 where Christ said that “the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of
the earth will mourn, and will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great
glory” (Matthew 24: 30).
Christ also compares the time of His return to the days of Noah” when life went on as usual with “eating
and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the arch” (verses 37-38).
We learned from the teaching of the church that the Holy Bible never contradict itself. That it is
like a jigsaw-puzzle-thousands of pieces put together, here a little, and there a little, then the whole true
picture comes into place. In view of what appears to be numerous contradictory references on the coming
of Christ to gather the saints in secret and Christ coming with power and great glory the Church of God-In
Truth, came to realize that indeed, there are truly substantial scriptural text to admit that the two
seemingly contrasting situations must therefore refer to two distinct events and not one coming as the
WCG has made us believe.
Rightly so, because behind the annual celebration of the Feast of Unleavened Bread lies a far more
deeper and symbolic meaning attached to it. At last, even the mysteries that once were hid from ages and
from generation are now made manifest to His saints. (Col. 1: 26). First in line among the many scriptural
texts that will help us understand that indeed there is a time when Christ will come for His church in secret
can be found in the resurrection chapter itself. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made
alive. But each one in his own order” (1 Corinthians 15: 22). “The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou
shall bring unto the house of the Lord thy God” (Exodus 23:19).
We are made to understand that Christ is the first of the firstfruits to be resurrected (1 Corinthians
15:23), the first of the firstfruits offered out of the barley harvest. Pure, unspotted and unblemished. The
statement the first of the first-fruits (plural) simply mean that there are other first-fruits from out of the
same kind to follow. Kind after its kind.
Bear also in mind that there is only one sheaf offered representing Christ but at the same time
offered in our behalf on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. “And the Lord speak unto Moses
saying. Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them. When ye be come into the land which I give
unto you and shall reap the harvest thereof. Then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest
unto the priest. And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you on the morrow after
the Sabbath, the priest shall wave it” (Leviticus 23: 9-11).
I am sure we are already aware that the firstfruits at Pentecost is an entirely different kind of
firstfruits because they have been taken out of the wheat harvest baked with leaven while the barley
firstfruits are without leaven. The two had been distinctly distinguished from one another in order to avoid
syncretisms – the mixing of religion, hated by God.
In the light of the above cited situations we can safely deduce that the first resurrection and return
of Christ will take place in two phases. The first phase is to rapture the saints from out of the unleavened
barley first-fruits during the Days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the second phase will most likely
take place at a time when Christ returns together with the saints after their marriage ceremony in heaven.
“And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied saying, Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands
of His saints” (Jude 1:13) to resurrect the other group of firstfruits from out of the wheat harvest.
The raptured saints out of the barley harvest are a special kind of people. “Blessed and holy is he
that hath part in the first resurrection on such the second death has no power but they shall be priest of
God and of Christ and shall reign with Him a thousand years” (Revelation 20:6). They have witnessed for
the truth and many of them suffered martyrdom for the cause. They are the representative group – the
overcomers par excellence of people from the beginning of time unto this day who have exemplified their
lives to which the saints are called.
Their reward is also far greater for they have been called to be a kingdom of priest. “Now therefore,
if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be peculiar treasure unto me above
all people, for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be unto Me a kingdom of priest, and an holy nation.
These are the words which thou shall speak unto the children of Israel” (Exodus 19: 5-6).
What a prize waiting for us at the end of the rainbow. We will be the future pillars of God's
government, ambassadors for Christ, the executor, administrator and custodian of His commandments,
statutes and judgments. What an incredible destiny awaits that goes beyond the borders of our
imagination! To speak of them through the medium of human language is but an under-statement. “ Eye
hath not seen nor ear have heard, neither have entered unto the heart of man, the things which God had
prepared for them that love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9 ). And most of all, we shall reign with Christ for a
thousand years …. and beyond.
On the other hand, the degree of sanctity attached to those who will be resurrected from the wheat
harvest is far lower compared to those resurrected earlier. When Christ returns together with the saints
they will just be an invited guests for the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9). As such, they are not
privy to the sensitive and delicate plans of the husband and wife. In like manner, the characteristics and
attributes displayed by the second group exemplify themselves to be God's church of the last Laodicean
era. Stubborn, unteachable and in need of nothing. While they “keep the commandments of God and have
the testimonies of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 12:17) yet they failed to recognize the true identity of the new
moon – the master key that unlocks the right observance of God's commanded Festivals and Holy Days.
Instead, they held on to the man-made teachings of Judaism, establishing their own brand of religion that
runs contrary to the word of God.
“Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias [Isaiah] prophesy of you, saying, this people draweth nigh unto Me
with their mouth and honoureth Me with their lips; but their hearts is far from Me. But in vain do they
worship Me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:7-9).
And because of their unteachable attitude they will go through the great tribulation and have to
offer their lives in order to prove that they too are worth saving. In all likelihood, they possibly will not
even be within the inner circle of God's ruling family.
No question about it. The Bible definitely speaks of a time when the people of God will be caught
up, raptured if you will, but let us not allow ourselves to assume that we know all there is to know about
the events of the end-time. Rather, “...take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged
with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unaware” (Luke
21: 34). “Therefore you also be ready for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect Him”
(Matthew 24:44).
Let us stay awake and watch! Let us set our minds on the things of God by prayer, Bible study and
Christian fellowship. Listen to what the Apostle Paul had advised the Ephesians. Read it carefully – and
prayerfully. If possible, read it over and over again:
“Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. For we wrestle not
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against power, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God,
that ye maybe able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand”(Ephesians 6: 10-13).
“Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the
wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Praying
always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and
supplication for all saints” (Ephesians 6: 16-18).
Are you excited? Afraid? Or maybe you don't even care at all. The end-time countdown is on –
nine, eight, seven, six, five, four..............
The redemption of the world is at hand. Prepare to meet the King! Romeo Samudio
Someone has written these beautiful words. We must read and try to understand the deep meaning of it.
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1. Prayer is not a "spare wheel" that you pull out when in trouble, but it is a "steering wheel" that directs the right
path throughout.
2. So why is a car's windshield so large and the rear view mirror so small? Because our past is not as important
as our future. So, look ahead and move on.
3. Friendship is like a book. It takes few seconds to burn, but it takes years to write.
4. All things in life are temporary. If it's going well, enjoy it, that won't last long. If it's going badly, don't worry,
that won't last long either.
5. Old friends are gold! New friends are diamonds! If you get a diamond, don't forget the gold! Because to hold
a diamond, you always need a base of gold!
6. Often when we lose hope and think this is the end,
God smiles from above and says, "Relax, sweetheart, it's just a bend, not the end!"
7. When God solves your problems, you have faith in His abilities; when God doesn't solve your problems, He
has faith in your abilities.
8. A blind person asked St. Anthony, "Can there be anything worse than losing eye sight?" He replied, "Yes,
losing your vision!"
9. When you pray for others, God listens to you and blesses them; sometimes, when you are safe and happy,
remember that someone has prayed for you.
10. Worrying does not take away tomorrow's troubles, it takes away today's peace.