A LOOK AT THE RAPTURE – THE LORD COMING DOWN WITH THE TRUMP.

1 Thes.4:16 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first”

(1 Thes.4:16). “One word of command, one shout from the archangel, one blast from the trumpet of God and the Lord Himself will come down from heaven…” (Phillips).

 We know through out the Bible that trumpets speak of messages.

Jesus would say , when you do good “…do not sound your trumpet  before you” Math.6:1-2.

 And we know  that the “last trump” (1 Cor 15:5-52) is actually the last message of the seventh angel of (Rev 10:1, 7), which is the message of perfection and completeness.

But what exactly is this ‘trump of God’ of 1 Thes 4:16?

Here the trumpet is directly associated with “God” Himself unlike what we have in (1Cor 15:52) “Last trump” that is associated with the seventh angel.

So then,what is the true meaning of the phrase “the trumpet of God”.  We can find the answer in the words of Prophet Zechariah.

The whole chapter of Zech.9 is prophetic of the judgment on Israel’s enemies, the restoration of Israel to the Promised Land, which will embrace not only the Israelite territory then (see Judges 20:1) but also the Aramaean, Phoenician and Philistine cities.

The whole prophecy speaks of a victorious campaign, and interpreted as the campaign of God Himself, which speaks of the coming age of the Messiah, and that this campaign is to be carried out at THE COMING OF ZION’S KING.

Look at it “This is the message concerning God’s curse on the lands of Hadrach and Damascus, for the Lord is closely watching ALL MANKIND (or “of the cities of Syria belong to the Lord, as much as do the tribes of Israel.” ) … Rejoice greatly, O my people! Shout with joy! for look, your king is coming! He is the righteous one, THE VICTOR: … The Lord shall lead His people as they fight! His arrows shall fly like lightning; the Lord God shall sound the trumpet call and go out against His enemies like a whirlwind off the desert, from the south. He will defend His people and they will subdue their enemies, … they will taste victory and SHOUT WITH TRIUMPH They shall shine in His hand as glittering jewels in a crown How wonderful and beautiful all shall be; ” (Zech 9: 1-17 Tlb).

Zech.9: 14 “And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south”.

So when Jesus used this phrase for the Jews of his days in Luke 12, what do you think he was saying to them?

Luke 12: 55 “And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass.

 56 Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time”?

He meant to say, you don’t know that I am the messiah spoken of by the prophets and that your time of Judgment under the Roman Armies is here.

For – the south west wind, blow over hot desert areas into Palestine and so could produce a heat wave, symbolic here of judgment.

So you see, It is in the light of this prophetic word and the restoration process through God’s judgment on His enemies that the “trump of God” in 1Thes 4:16 is speaking to us.

 For “yea He sent out His arrows, and scattered them; and He shot out lightning, and discomfited them.” To executed vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron to execute upon them the judgement written; THIS HONOUR HAVE ALL HIS SAINTS Praise ye the Lord.” (Ps 18:14, 149;7-9 KJV).

Precisely what Enoch prophesied  in Jude 14-16. “…see, the Lord is coming with millions of His holy ones (saints)..”.

So what are we saying? The trumpet call of God is symbolic of God’s move against His enemies in warfare ..

“When He shall come to be glorified IN HIS SAINTS, as He is “revealed from Heaven” – in flaming fire (heat wave. Heb.1: 7) taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ…” (2 Thes 1:10,7- 8).

 Therefore what we are seeing here in 1 Thes 4:16, is the “war call” of Nub 10:9 which was blown by the priest accompanying the army. (Nub 31: 6) compare 2 Chron.13:12-15.

 This trumpet call of God, is not just an ordinary call or message like any other, but a call to arm, to bring to subjection, – self and human ego, as we match arm to arm with principalities and power, with our wills being broken that we might fully be empowered by Him to go forth and to conquer, even the beast in political governments, religion and the heart of men.

It has nothing to do with a literal trumpet some days to come that will enable you fly away.

The victory over sin is sure and the last enemy to be destroyed is death, producing a total restoration of man back into the image of His creator in Christ. Eph. 1: 10, CoI. 3: 10.  

Clearly then, the trumpet of 1Thes4:16  “THE TRUMP OF GOD”,is  AN ALARM OF WAR. It’s not for a Rapture , but to declare the Victories of Christ on the Earth.

 ASCENDING  & ASCENDING. The Lord descending is a manifestation.

“For THE LORD HIMSELF SHALL DESCEND FROM HEAVEN ..,” (1 Thes 4:16).

First of all, the word DESCEND is KATABATNO which means: – DESCEND, (lit or fig) Come (GET, GO, STEP DOWN, FALL (DOWN).

In the book of Proverb , we read,

“Who hath ascended up into heaven, or DESCENDED–?” (Prov.30:4)

 Jesus Himself answered the question when He said

 “–No man hath ascended up to heaven, but HE THAT CAME DOWN (descended) from HEAVEN, even the Son of man which is in heaven” (Jn 3:13 ).

What can we understand by this? It is simply that, He alone has manifested the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

In other words, no man has being filled with the fullness of the Godhead in human form before His arrival and that He alone had that privilege while alive even on earth.

For “for in Him, the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form, giving complete expression of the divine nature” (Col 2:9),Amp.See 1Tim.3:16.  “God was manifested in the flesh…”

Having accomplished the victory of sin and Satan at the Cross, through His human ministry, He ascended above all other realms of spiritual attainment-heavens, into the Fatherhood realm.

For “I come forth from the Father, and am come unto the world (descended) again. I leave the world (as a human being and ye see me no more. (Jn16:10) as i go to the Father who is spirit (Jn 4:24 Jn16: 28).

Just look at this..

Eph.4: 9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

So how did he descend from heaven the first time, did he float down like a balloon from the cloud and landed on Earth as a human being?

The scripture says, in response to the address of the angel that spoke to Mary..

Luke.1: 34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God”

Can you get it.. He came through the glory cloud, same cloud that descended on the Mouth of transfiguration, the cloud that came at the dedication of Solomon’s temple, and same cloud that descended on the Mouth Sinai when the law was given. The very cloud that was in the Most Holy place upon the Ark and the very cloud with which he ascended Acts 1: 9 ..and a cloud received him out of their sight”

Not Clouds, but the same singular cloud people.

He descended through that means as the glory rested on Mary.

His descending, was simply to give up his Glory as the Father and became a human being.

Phil.2: 6 “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men”

So in Jn 3:13 when He said, “no man has ascended up to heaven,” it is that no human being had ever lived, even Elijah and all others, and those even now without Christ, did not and cannot attain to the fullness of the Godhead without the sacrifice of Christ

“for in Christ, there is all of God in human body” Tlb.

But the word of God says, Elijah ascended up to heaven! Sure, he did, but not into the fullness of the father’s glory because “–the way into the holiest of all (fullness of God’s glory) was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle (realm of sacrifices and laws) was yet standing, (i.e. Still in place) (Heb 9:8).

What are we saying?

 “Descending out of heaven” does not mean a literal human being being floating down, but a manifestation of His person.

 But this time through a people- see this “God was IN CHRIST” (2cor 5: 19), that was a manifestation.

There was no literal person called God other than the vessel He chose to pass through as Jesus the Christ.

 God descended on Mt Sinai in fire- (Exo 19: 18), that does not limit the nature of God or his manifestation to be of fire. In Exo.33: 9, He filled the tabernacle with the “cloudy pillar of glory” as He descended. In Gen 11: 5 “And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower,…..” to destroy the tower of Babel,  Who saw a physical human being?

Think for a moment. Could it be we are missing some of his visitations to us because we are thinking of just only one way of his coming?

 In Jn1:51 Jesus told Nathaniel that He shall see angels ‘ascending and descending’ upon the son of man’

He was not talking of literal angels walking on him as a human being, but rather, that He is the WAY to the father-our heavenly home.”–I am the door, by me if any man (angel?) enters in, he shall be saved, and shall go in (ascend) and out (descend) and find pasture (life) (John10: 9).

What it means further to descend …

Exo.19:18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.

19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.

20 And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.

21 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish….

22 And let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.

23 And Moses said unto the LORD, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it.

24 And the LORD said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the LORD, lest he break forth upon them.

25 So Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them.

“The Law was given”

Exo.20: 1  And God spake all these words, saying,

2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me…..

Get this right. Moses ascended, then God asked Moses to go down-descending, and as he starts descending, immediately the Law was proclaimed.

What is the implication of this? The law was imparted into Moses to be further imparted and implanted in the rest of the people. And that is God, Heaven itself descending into man with His nature, so man may manifest heaven-God for the laws were the nature of God.

So when Jesus talked about “ …and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man”,(John1.51. ) it is to get the mind of God in order to reveal same to creation.

The result of this movement is the establishment of a kingdom of priest as we impart the nature of God to men. Since from the mouth of the priests shall they seek knowledge Mal.2:7.

Man meeting with God is heaven coming down to Earth, this is the oneness of God and man that the Father ultimately desire for the creation since the fall of man, thereby revealing his laws in our hearts-and so manifesting God’s Government-His kingdom.

So in Isaiah He said to his people;- Isa.51:15

“But I am the LORD thy God that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name.

16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people”

This is the mystery of the sons of God going into God, receiving and blessing the people in the’ outer court’ spiritually with the resources of heaven. This is the same ladder that Jacob saw in Gen28: 12.

Now, you can understand why the-‘ great city’-the lamb’s wife-the heavenly Jerusalem is.. “descending but of heaven from God”, (Rev.21:9-10).

It is the Church of Christ, which is His body and with Him as the head being revealed,  (Eph1:22-23), that through the church, He as spirit in the church might fill ALL THINGS with His person.

“(20 “All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, 21 in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He (Christ)  is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. 23 The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.” (Eph.1:20-23 msg.)

Praise the Lord. Can you handle that?

So His descending out of heaven is the revelation of His ‘body’ to the world in a great power and glory, when He comes to be glorified in His saints. (2Thes1:10) For He is in them, (Col 1:27), and the Church is in God, (Acts17:28,1Jn 5:20, 1 Thes:1-1, John 14:20, Ps 90:1).

Again, Christ coming out of heaven, the spirit realm is through a people – the Church, with whom He is now sitting in glory. (Eph 2: 6, Col 3:1).

So ultimately, God is intending us to take heaven wherever we go and to have it planted as such, bringing to a realization the prayer, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in Earth as its in heaven.

The Church needs to wake up and be who God intends her to be on the Earth.

We must get out of the fears of the Antichrist and trying to run away to heaven.

 For “…The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever” Rev.11:15..

Inbox me if you need the tape,

To be continued…