Scriptural verses about the rapture

First off, thanks to those who have contributed to my study with additional verses! I have added them onto the pages of my study for further consideration. I'm realizing that my question was perhaps inadequately defined. My apologies.

In order to study the "rapture", and to get aid from you all, I'll need to establish a few things that are commonly agreed, so as to prevent misunderstanding in my intent and in any findings I post. First perhaps I should state what I'm not doing. I'm not trying to prove or disprove any particular idea on the rapture. I have never placed my beliefs into a specific nailed down timeline. I know for certain we are going to enter into God's kingdom,(The best definition of God's Kingdom is from Jesus Himself, "Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:5-8) if we are faithful and do his works("He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit." Titus 3:5), as the gospels lay out for us. I'm sure that is agreed by all, as it is repeatedly stated all through the New Testament.

First off I suppose we need to examine what being "raptured" actually means. The common understanding of it as I understand it, is it related primarily to the word harpazo. Meaning taken or caught up. So being raptured must then involve us leaving the "earth" and entering "heaven". This by necessity forces us to define "heaven", that we may be assured we are agreeing where we are to be raptured too. It does little good to agree we are taken up, if we have no concept of what and where "up" is.

I know this seems self explanatory, but scripture has much to say about this, and we all seem to have varied ideas on where "heaven" is, not to mention what it is. The best description I have heard of "what" heaven is, is also the most basic. It has the benefit of being both scriptural and simplistic. "Heaven" is the dwelling place of God. I'll assume that is agreed upon by all and continue. For the purposes of clarification, we need to distinguish from "the heavens". That term is commonly used to describe the sky in general, not always the dwelling place of the Lord. Further we must look at another additional twist. The dwelling place of the Father vs. the dwelling place of the Son. This is needed because we all know that the Father didn't and doesn't take form and reside on earth. He eternally resides in "heaven". I agree with you on your differences of 'Heaven'(spiritual plane) and 'the heavens(physical plane). Right now there are two kingdoms, if you will. The Kingdom of Heaven, God, Jesus, and all the Holy Angels. And then there is the dominion of darkness, Col. 1:13, Satan's dominion(spiritual plane) that we currently live in(physical plane).

Since both Father and Son are God, "heaven" is more than one place at times. Or perhaps a better description is there is more than one heaven. Since scripture says we will be with Jesus, reign with Him and be in His presence, we will leave the Supposition of the Fathers dwelling in particular out of the discussion, other than to touch on it here. That is unless someone can show me where the Father is said to be inhabiting the same place as Jesus does at all times, as opposed to being in and with him at all times.

Here we need to pause and I will quickly touch on something that is pertinent to this discussion, that I find most people either don't know, or have not considered. However it was known and accepted by all the apostles churches and the first Christians for at least the first 3 centuries. It is well elaborated in the thousands of pages of writings we have available to us. They can be found online freely at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library here. ( www.ccel.org/ ) The collected works run about 700 to 1,000 dollars to buy, so I'd recommend reading online and or printing them if you are interested in studying the history of Christianity.

Back to topic. While the creator is the Father, all things were created through the Son, whom the Father gave authority over all things on/in the earth. John beautifully explains that in the beginning of His book. It is in many other places as well, but no need to cover that topic excessively here. All the mentions of God in the Old Testament, that do not directly call Him Father, are Jesus. It was him that tabernacled with the Jews, Him that visited Abraham, and Him that was in the garden with Adam and Eve. He even says as much in places. "None have seen the Father but the Son." So, when Jesus tabernacled with the Jews, heaven was on earth, for God dwelled among them. I grew up in the Catholic church, so God the Father was an old man, Jesus was a young man, beaten and scarred and hanging on a cross, and the Holy Spirit was a bird. Jesus told us in His own words, "I and the Father are one.” John 10:30 What you said earlier about the Father didn't and doesn't take form and reside on the Earth, I would contend that, yes He did. He is Jesus, and Jesus was and will be the physical form of God the Father. 

Jesus is coming back to reign here on earth, so when He returns, heaven will be here, not in the sky. So any rapture that happens, must happen before His return. For at that time heaven and earth become one, and you cant be taken up to where you already are. This is why I have never understood the statement post tribulation rapture. Tribulation ends when Jesus returns to reign, so you can't be raptured to Him when He is already here. However, if you mean the term to describe being spiritually transformed into our new garments or bodies, then you can be raptured at judgment day or prior.

The issue with that use is it is just substituting rapture for the moment of conception into eternal life, not being taken anywhere, but rather being transformed. So, for this study, we will hopefully all agree to rapture meaning being taken up, therefore, by definition, it must occur prior to the second coming.

I hope this set of definitions is acceptable and agreeable to all. If not, we can examine further the specifics and terminology in another thread.

Now to how this study is conducted and what is hoped to be achieved. This began with a study into the book of Revelations, for obvious reasons. Those being that the time is near and I want to be fully prepared for what is to come. Since rapture beliefs are enter-twined in end days discussion, I decided it was best to study both at the same time, rather than try to divide what is linked.

Because I have no bias to any timing or teachings on this, I will simply read and compare contrast scriptures, without attempting to prove or disprove any established beliefs. If I find there to be obvious scriptural support of a certain view on this, I'll adopt that as my own, rather than using my own to view scripture. We should always be careful when interpreting scripture to not read or conform scripture to our belief, but conform our beliefs to what scripture actually says. Thanks again to all, God bless! I'll post my paper/study here when it is completed, with scriptural references where needed, so you can study and come to your own informed conclusions.

servantofthelord ,Natalie ,mike ,Gary ,stormyknight , if ya'll don't mind, I'd like some clarification. I don't want to do any study into the different schools of thought on the rapture just yet, as I don't want to risk biasing my study before I conclude it. But I do need a little clarification. Just simple basics, no reasoning or opinion, if you don't mind. Not yet anyway. I understand there to be 4 schools of thought on rapture. Those that don't believe it at all, those who are what is termed pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, and post-tribulation. If I surmise correctly by simple word/linguistics, the pre thought is before the tribulation, mid is in the middle and post is after. Hopefully that is the correct basic thought. So the defining factor is the tribulation. since tribulations are ongoing even today, I take it to mean the "Great Tribulation", specifically. So hopefully, there is a consensus among the three as to what event or time, signifies the beginning/start of this event. What exactly would that be? If there is a specific verse that declares it, or some definite sign of it in scripture, that will suffice. If not a basic description will do nicely. Please consider that I'm not wanting a full explanation of any particular theory just yet, I merely wish to be sure I at least understand the most basic premise of these. Thanks in advance for saving me the time of trying to pinpoint and assume I am correct.