Rapture: The End-Times Error That Leaves the Bible Behind by David B. Currie Page A
Book: Rapture: The End-Times Error That Leaves the Bible Behind by David B. Currie
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Authors: David B. Currie
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clouds are recorded as having appeared, nor did God make Himself visible in any physical manifestation. God’s coming on a cloud was actually fulfilled in the arrival of the Assyrian army! They were the tool of God’s judgment. God gloriously came on the clouds, but what was physically seen was the Assyrian army.
A similar use of clouds to signify the glory of God in His judgment against Egypt is in Ezekiel: “The day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of clouds” (30:3).
At the Ascension, clouds seem to combine all this symbolism. Jesus “was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9). His Suffering Servant days were completed. From this point on, the world would see Him as the glorified Son of Almighty God.
The angels hint at this when they tell the disciples that Jesus “will come in the same way as you saw Him go” (Acts 1:11). Some rapturists seem to imply this means that Christ’s second advent cannot occur on a clear day, but that is trivializing the meaning of the angels. They meant that next time Christ will return in glory as the Judge of the living and the dead.
The Church has always understood the symbolism of clouds in this way. Victorinus wrote the earliest extant commentary on The Apocalypse in about 270 A.D. He wrote that Christ “shall come with the clouds.… For He who at first came hidden … shall after a little while come to judgment manifest in majesty and glory” ( COA , I). More recently, Pope John Paul II stated in his general audience on April 22, 1998, “In apocalyptic language, clouds signify a theophany: They indicate that the Second Coming of the Son of Man will not take place in the weakness of flesh, but in divine power.”
GROUND RULE 7
“RESURRECTION EQUALS RENEWAL”
Physical-resurrection language can symbolize spiritual renewal
Ezekiel paints an interesting picture in Chapter 37. He sees a valley strewn with dry bones and is instructed to tell the bones that God will bring them back to life. Sure enough, as Ezekiel watches, the bones regroup. Then muscle and skin attaches themselves to the bones. Finally the breath of life “come[s] from the four winds” (Ezek. 37:9), and the originally dry, lifeless bones turn into a host of living, breathing people.
Ezekiel is told that this is a picture of what God will do for the people of Israel at the end of their captivity in Babylon. Against all odds, they will once again be brought back to Israel from captivity and become a nation again. We can read of the fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy in Old Testament history.
God then describes this renewal of Israel in the most interesting language: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.… Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you home into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land” (Ezek. 37:9, 12–14).
When we compare these verses carefully with their fulfillment in history, we find no record of a mass resurrection of Jewish people from cemeteries. It is apparent that Ezekiel used physical resurrection as an allegory for the spiritual renewal of God’s people.
We can learn from this that in apocalyptic literature, physical-resurrection language can symbolize spiritual renewal (GR7). That is the whole point of the dry bones. It is almost as if God were reminding us that sometimes a physical resurrection would be no more difficult than a spiritual renewal. Since a rebirth of faith is every bit as miraculous as a physical rejuvenation, the one can be used to speak of the other.
Jesus used this way of speaking (John 5:25–29). For example, He was criticized by the Pharisees for forgiving the sins of a paralytic man. Jesus said to these critics,
A similar use of clouds to signify the glory of God in His judgment against Egypt is in Ezekiel: “The day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of clouds” (30:3).
At the Ascension, clouds seem to combine all this symbolism. Jesus “was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9). His Suffering Servant days were completed. From this point on, the world would see Him as the glorified Son of Almighty God.
The angels hint at this when they tell the disciples that Jesus “will come in the same way as you saw Him go” (Acts 1:11). Some rapturists seem to imply this means that Christ’s second advent cannot occur on a clear day, but that is trivializing the meaning of the angels. They meant that next time Christ will return in glory as the Judge of the living and the dead.
The Church has always understood the symbolism of clouds in this way. Victorinus wrote the earliest extant commentary on The Apocalypse in about 270 A.D. He wrote that Christ “shall come with the clouds.… For He who at first came hidden … shall after a little while come to judgment manifest in majesty and glory” ( COA , I). More recently, Pope John Paul II stated in his general audience on April 22, 1998, “In apocalyptic language, clouds signify a theophany: They indicate that the Second Coming of the Son of Man will not take place in the weakness of flesh, but in divine power.”
GROUND RULE 7
“RESURRECTION EQUALS RENEWAL”
Physical-resurrection language can symbolize spiritual renewal
Ezekiel paints an interesting picture in Chapter 37. He sees a valley strewn with dry bones and is instructed to tell the bones that God will bring them back to life. Sure enough, as Ezekiel watches, the bones regroup. Then muscle and skin attaches themselves to the bones. Finally the breath of life “come[s] from the four winds” (Ezek. 37:9), and the originally dry, lifeless bones turn into a host of living, breathing people.
Ezekiel is told that this is a picture of what God will do for the people of Israel at the end of their captivity in Babylon. Against all odds, they will once again be brought back to Israel from captivity and become a nation again. We can read of the fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy in Old Testament history.
God then describes this renewal of Israel in the most interesting language: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.… Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you home into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land” (Ezek. 37:9, 12–14).
When we compare these verses carefully with their fulfillment in history, we find no record of a mass resurrection of Jewish people from cemeteries. It is apparent that Ezekiel used physical resurrection as an allegory for the spiritual renewal of God’s people.
We can learn from this that in apocalyptic literature, physical-resurrection language can symbolize spiritual renewal (GR7). That is the whole point of the dry bones. It is almost as if God were reminding us that sometimes a physical resurrection would be no more difficult than a spiritual renewal. Since a rebirth of faith is every bit as miraculous as a physical rejuvenation, the one can be used to speak of the other.
Jesus used this way of speaking (John 5:25–29). For example, He was criticized by the Pharisees for forgiving the sins of a paralytic man. Jesus said to these critics,
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