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Gen 5:21-24 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him

One day Enoch was seen in the flesh and then in the twinkling of an eye he disappeared. It appears that the rest of Seth's descendants experienced death but not Enoch. Why? Enoch, we are told, walked with God. This was his manner of life, his calling and he remained true to it. Even his name means "dedicated." No other reason is given, but the implication here is that God must have honored Enoch's lifetime of faithfulness by intervening in the most miraculous way imaginable. We may wonder if God is telling us that having done it once He is able and willing to do it again.

Ex. 12:11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste, it is the LORD’S passover

On the eve of the Israelites transition from slavery to freedom, God established the first Passover. The entire ceremony, from the selection of the lamb without blemish to the dabbing of its blood on the doorposts, was a precursor of the sacrifice of the lamb of God - Jesus Christ. In applying the blood, the Jews became the body of believers, separated unto God and marked for deliverence. They were instructed to eat the meal "in haste"and readiness, for their transformation from slavery to freedom would be symbolically instantaneous - like a "rapture."

1The.4:15-17 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 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: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words

Paul's intention here is to stem the growing concerns within the church body by reassuring us of the certainty of the Lord's coming and of our gathering together to Him. Paul doesn't mitigate his words. He speaks with assurance and authority for he had already heard from God on this subject.

1Cor.15:51-52 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

What a day that will be! Here it is - the rapture - the latter day answer to the Red Sea crossing. How could two million Jews cross the Red Sea on dry ground? Can millions more be gathered instantly in the presence of the Lord today? It takes a gigantic leap of faith to believe that this could possibly happen. Our insistant demand for material evidence tends to smother our spirituality. Nevertheless, Moses tells all of us doubters "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you today."

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home
page one - The Gift of God
page two - "Increase Our Faith"
page three - The Evidence of Faith
page four - Eternal Security
page five - A New Law
page six - His Presence
page seven - Brightness
page eight - Caleb
page nine -Abortion - the Palliation of Sin
page ten - The Light of Hope