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That's why I would think they'd be terrified .I would say generally no as a twinkling is very quick. However, in some situations it would be noticed. If I were at work and directly speaking with an unbeliever and the rapture occurred then they would likely see me vanish.
That's for certain.I think what people left behind might see is people suddenly vanishing. A twinkling is a very short instant of time. They'll probably become confused, asking themselves if they really just saw what they saw.
The thing I'm wondering is how long after the twinkle of change before the saint goes up? Paul says we will be changed in a twinkling but he doesn't mention ascending at the same time. It seems there could be a certain amount of time the saints could be seen in their glorified bodies. Maybe long enough to tell the left behinds we weren't taken by aliens.That's for certain.
But perhaps you are changed in a twinkling before their eyes but you didn't ascend at the same time. Or if you do you can be seen going up until you disappear like when the disciples watched Jesus go up and Elisha watched Elijah.I would say generally no as a twinkling is very quick. However, in some situations it would be noticed. If I were at work and directly speaking with an unbeliever and the rapture occurred then they would likely see me vanish.
I expect 3 perspectives, The raptured - they see each other transformed,
the unbelieving world - the raptured just vanish,
And the 2 witnesses who die during the trib and the world sees them get up and soar up into the clouds.
Anything else would be like the 2 witnesses and according to the Lord's purposes as a witness for or against those who see it.
Yes but we won't be absent from the body we will have a new body and Jesus calls us up.Agree. Absent from the body is to be with the Lord. Here one second, gone the next nano second.
Wether we leave our clothes behind is irrelevant to me because I know I will be clothed in white.
Yes it is indeed. Also even if the left behind saw it happen and we could tell them aliens didn't do it the Bible is clear that some people are so hard hearted even if they see someone rise from the dead they won't believe.If God is about to give people over to delusion because they love unrighteousness, maybe they won't see us go up. Maybe not even our clothes will remain. Then they can choose to believe whatever they will.
Maybe they will witness us vanishing but not ascending or being changed. Even seeing a person disappear should cause them to look for the truth, but God still gives them free will to choose.
...makes me think of why we've never completely uncovered Noah's Ark-- then people would *have* to believe, which wouldnt be the same thing as faith.
Interesting to wonder about until we someday know!
2 Corinthians 5Yes but we won't be absent from the body we will have a new body and Jesus calls us up.
Those in Christ that are alive during that timeThe point I'm trying to make is 1Corinthians 15:50-52 is focused on the saint being changed. It doesn't say taken up in a twinkling. Therefore I believe according to the other scripture references it's reasonable to think the left behinds could witness the rapture.
Wonder if "changed" there could mean changed from corruptible bodies to incorruptible, but also location or place. It says we will meet the Lord in the air. I'd like that to take a little longer than an atomos of time, when we will also be reunited with those gone before. How many meetings have you ever had that were over almost before they began? I could see us going up visibly. Or not. I don't know.And the word "changed" is the Greek word allasso , which means an exchange of one thing
for another.
Good one hehe.I'm up in the air about it.
I also watched that sermon he gave and it’s the first time I’ve ever heard that viewpoint. It’s certainly made think..and believe me I’ve been thinking about it a lot. Based on the way he explained it, I agree it’s possible ……but as with so much concerning the rapture I don’t believe we can be absolutely certain.The point I'm trying to make is 1Corinthians 15:50-52 is focused on the saint being changed. It doesn't say taken up in a twinkling. Therefore I believe according to the other scripture references it's reasonable to think the left behinds could witness the rapture.
The rapture will be so quick that I don’t think the human eye can capture it. Remember we serve a very powerful God and He can make the twinkling of an eye quicker than anything we know. The folks left behind will wonder what happened to us. I don’t believe at all they will see our ascension.It's hard to say what the Rapture might look like. Paul describes it for believers but for unbelievers who might witness this? There's no indication of their perspective.
I would say that your examples (and I would add Elijah) happened that way because God wants people to bear witness. So if the world does see an ascension, it will also be because God wants them to see it.
The popular conception of it (people vanishing into thin air, leaving their clothes behind, and no one knows what happened); that one I have the hardest time accepting. Yes, it could happen that way, but there is no passage of Scripture that describes a scene like that.
Like a flash of lightning!Remember we serve a very powerful God and He can make the twinkling of an eye quicker than anything we know. The folks left behind will wonder what happened to us.
But the whole point he made is that the “twinkling of an eye” refers to the physical change from mortal to immortal, not the actual ascent into the clouds. I mean, they could occur simultaneously in which case it would be too fast for a human to detect. But what if the change happens first, and then the ascent follows?The rapture will be so quick that I don’t think the human eye can capture it. Remember we serve a very powerful God and He can make the twinkling of an eye quicker than anything we know. The folks left behind will wonder what happened to us. I don’t believe at all they will see our ascension.
It is interesting about the Resurrection of the saints / Rapture. Paul seems to present it as a sequence of events, rather than something that occurs instantaneously.The rapture will be so quick that I don’t think the human eye can capture it. Remember we serve a very powerful God and He can make the twinkling of an eye quicker than anything we know. The folks left behind will wonder what happened to us. I don’t believe at all they will see our ascension.