Excerpt from the chapter: Who will be raptured to heaven? of the book: Q – God Wins. (Available on Amazon)
Who will be raptured?
Many people believe that they will go to heaven after death. However, some hold the view that they will be caught up to heaven. Are you among those who expect this?
A Protestant evangelist described the rapture as “the sudden disappearance of millions upon millions of people without the slightest clue as to their whereabouts.” According to the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, the term “rapture” refers to “the union of the church with Christ at his second coming.”
Some find the idea of leaving friends and loved ones behind to be with Jesus Christ unsettling. Yet many believe that the Rapture must take place. Will it come to pass? If so, when?
Different views on the Rapture
The Bible indicates that a “great tribulation” will occur before the start of Christ's promised millennial reign. Jesus said, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will.” (Matthew 24:21; Revelation 20:6) Some teach that the rapture will occur before that great tribulation. Others expect it to occur during the tribulation. Still others believe that the rapture will take place after this time of unparalleled distress…
.... God's inspired Word, the Bible, is the standard by which we must measure the truthfulness of all beliefs. (2 Timothy 1:13; 3:16-17) So what does the Bible say about the rapture?
The first example we have is Enoch, who lived before the time of the Great Flood. Enoch fearlessly proclaimed the judgments of Jehovah to his godless contemporaries. "Now Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied about these and said, 'Behold, the Lord (Jehovah) has come in the midst of His holy thousands to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and all their harsh words which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.“ (Jude 14-15) People who speak against God also hate and persecute the servants of God. Since the wicked are condemned by the proclamation of Jehovah's judgments, they seek to lay hands on the proclaimers of this message of judgment and to eliminate them. This kind of persecution did not come about over time. According to the words of Jesus, it began in the days of Abel, the son of Adam. (Matt. 23:34-35) In the case of Enoch, however, Jehovah did not allow his religious enemies to kill him. Genesis 5:24 says, “Enoch walked with God; and he was no more, because God took him away.” Apparently, even his body was nowhere to be found. God did not permit his enemies to profane him. “God took him away.” God probably disposed of Enoch's body as he did that of Moses, over whose body Michael had a dispute with Satan. (Num. 34:5-6; Jud. 9)
Part 2 The explanation that Enoch's life was cut short while he was having a vision is based on the words of the Apostle Paul according to Hebrews 11:15: “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he should not see death, and was not found, because God had taken him; for before he was taken he had the testimony that he had pleased God.” These words do not mean that Enoch was taken to heaven, as is generally assumed in Christianity. This is clearly evident from the following scriptural testimonies:
According to Matthew 11:11, Jesus said that no greater man has risen than John the Baptist, but that the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he, thus implying that John did not go to heaven. If John did not go to heaven, then neither did Enoch. According to John 3:13, Jesus clearly stated that no one had ever ascended to heaven. Thus, Enoch could not be there either. It was only through the death of Jesus that a “new” and “living way”, a way to heaven, was opened. Therefore, Jesus is “the first in everything”. He was also the first to enter heaven. (Col.1:18; Heb.10:2
In addition, in his letter to the Hebrews, the apostle Paul mentions faithful men like Enoch, Noah, Abraham, etc. in chapter 11 and then contrasts these men of faith, who lived before the Christian congregation, with the Christians who, like he himself was a member of that congregation: “And all these who through faith have received a testimony did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect apart from us.” (Heb. 11:39-4 In other words, these faithful men of old will receive their reward only after the members of the Christian congregation have been rewarded.
What is meant by Enoch's rapture, if it cannot mean that he was taken up into heaven? Apparently, it means that he died differently from the rest of humanity. That is why it is said of him that he was “caught up” so that he would not see death.
The Greek word translated “caught up” at Hebrews 11:6 means “to translate,” “to bring” or “to change.” The Apostle Paul's rapture, when he was translated to the third heaven (whether in the body or out of the body he could not tell), probably helps clarify the matter. On that occasion, Paul had a vision of the future paradise of the Christian congregation. (2 Cor.12:1-4) In a similar state of spiritual rapture or ecstasy, Enoch had a vision of the earthly paradise, and on that occasion God probably took him away, that is, He probably put him to sleep. Enoch did not see death in the sense that he did not feel death approaching and did not have a death struggle. His resurrection will be like a transition for him from his vision to the realization of life in the new world, which he had the privilege to see.
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