DO ALL THE DEAD RISE ON FIRST FRUITS?

Greetings Watchers!

Today I received a couple of questions that many of you have asked in some form or another so I thought I would use this opportunity to share these answers with all of you.

Hi!

Thanks for the note.  I appreciate hearing from you.

Q:  When the dead in Christ rise (First Fruits) will it be all the dead in Christ from all time or just some of the dead?

A:  Those who were raised on First Fruits after Jesus were the old Testament Saints.  Many of them received bodies and had an assignment to go into Jerusalem and preach for 40 days.  Then on Ascension Day, 40 days after they rose, they were taken to heaven with Jesus and the rest of those who rose that day but did not receive bodies.

Now, do we have any scripture to back this up?  I believe we do.

First we have Isaiah 61 which tells us that one of the things that the Messiah will do is set the captives free.  They are freed and raise on First Fruits after Jesus rose - many got bodies, but I'm sure that more than just many accepted Jesus as the Messiah and rose without bodies.  Well, where were they?  I believe that they waited in the air.  What? Where do you get that?

Well, Matthew 27:52-53 says that many of the saints came out of the graves and were seen by many in Jerusalem.  And then Psalm 68:18 tells us that when He ascended on high, He took captivity captive.  That is to say that those who were held captive by death were set free, and then taken captive to Jesus.

Remember at this point we only know about the many who received bodies from Matthew.

But, when confirming Psalm 68:18, Paul taught in Ephesians 4:8, that when He ascended on high, He took a "multitude" with Him.  Multitude?  Where did they come from?  I thought it was only many?  How did they grow to be a multitude?

Well, that's why I believe that more than many accepted Jesus as Messiah and were raised on First Fruits, and became the shadow that was cast into the path of the Church to fulfill Paul's teaching of I Thessalonians 4:16-17.

Because if you reason with me for a moment, you will see something here.

The Bible that Jesus used was the Septuagint.  That Bible was written in a script that had no punctuation, so all the punctuation in the King James version was placed there by the translators.

It says, (KJV - Nelson Study Bible) "Paul to the Thessalonians:  I Thess. 4:16-17 "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:  vs..17 THEN we which are alive (in Christ) and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the Air.

Now by just changing the inflection of your voice, that can be read that dead that rose were in the clouds, and that we that remain will be caught up, with them that are already in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the Air.

Now, that verse changes if you inflect your voice to be more in context with the dead rising on the date set for resurrections, which was first fruits.  I don't think we have a question about that.  Christ rose then, and the dead that he set free rise then.

So, using that understanding, it would say that the dead rose first, on first fruits, and then we living are caught up, together with them that are already in the clouds, to be with the Lord forever.

In light of the fact that we have Paul's teaching on the feasts being shadows, and the substance being the Messiah, I would tend to read it the latter way.  Reading it the other way has no meaning in this context.  In addition, in Eph. 4:8, Paul says that on the day that He ascended on high, he took a "Multitude"(captivity captive) with him.  Now that's way more than the many that rose in bodies and went into Jerusalem to be seen by many.   Was Paul trying to tell us something here?

What would be so strange that we wait in the Air for 40 days while the warning period is going on?  The first time around it seems that it happened.  Matthew says many came out in bodies, and Paul said that a "multitude" ascended on high with Jesus.

The dead that rose were a token of the full harvest yet to come.  That full harvest is when the Church is Raptured.  Many of the dead that rise will have bodies, and the rest won't.  Does a make a difference if the rest of them rise an instant before we are raptured, or if they don't and are in the air when we meet them?  I don't think that's the issue here.

Going to heaven in the Rapture is the issue, and the warning sign of that happening is the fulfillment of the shadow cast on resurrection day, first fruits, and ascension day, the Rapture.

Now, that's how I see it.

Q:  If it is all the dead in Christ will it not be hard to miss?

A:  Well, I have said many times that it's going to be hard to see them.  The news, if they cover the story at all will call them outer fringe Jews for Jesus lunatics.  What would you think of someone coming into town that you don't know and saying that you were dead and were resurrected by Jesus and that in 40 days if you don't repent you will be destroyed by God?  In this day and age, you would roll over laughing at them.  Hence hard to see.

Second scenario:  They are seen and understood, just as Jonah was and just as those who saw them the first time.  After all, they convinced a lot of people to accept Jesus as Messiah on Pentecost.  3,000 is the number recorded.  Do you think they had nothing to do with that?  Peter and the Apostles had been in hiding from the Ascension til then, so they surely didn't influence anyone.  Then on that morning, they began to preach and 3,000 heard the message?  Maybe, but I doubt it.

So, in this scenario, they are seen and believed by some of those who see them, who begin to spread the word.  News papers would get it for sure.  But suppose it happened on 9/11?  Would the papers have carried that story? Probably not.  But maybe the Jewish papers would.  So we have to look there if we don't see it here.

And if the devil arranges for there to be another attack of some kind that captures the news, we had better be watching very closely.

Q:  Why do you think that there is no mention in Luke 24 of anyone else ascending with Jesus?

A:  Because Luke 24 is the account of the Resurrection of Jesus.  Ephesians 4:8 is the account by Paul of the multitude that ascended with Jesus.

Q:  And one last comment: King Abdullah (Hashemite King) is 43rd descendant of Mohammad. Do you think it's just a coincidence that President Bush is the 43rd President of our United States? And that the Church in a way is the 43rd Generation?  Matthew 1:17 "...there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ."

A:  I don't believe in coincidences!

Thanks again, and God bless.

Brother Sal