Posted by Elana Janson on December 02, 2006 at 14:31:46:
In Reply to: Re: die wegraping posted by Ben Curran on November 16, 2006 at 04:55:29:
Ek het hierdie brief in Engels geskryf sodat meer mense dit kan lees.
The rapture theory puts forth that Jesus Christ will in the last days, before the tribulation begins, snatch away those that are to be saved. Others will be left behind on earth to face torment and punishment. As I believe that I was given insight into Revelation and that we are in the time of the final season it is important that I disclose my view on this subject.
According to my understanding the rapture theory is based on essentially two sections in Scripture. The first being the interpretation of Revelation 12:5 “And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up to God, and to his throne.”
The second Matthew 24:39-42 “And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away: so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”
Revelation 12:5
At some point in time someone said or wrote down that the words “her child was caught up to God and to his throne” relate to a “rapture” of persons up to heaven. This was in the time that many believed that the verses of Revelation stood in isolation from the other verses and chapters in Revelation. Some thought that Revelation could be understood literally. This is a very important verse in the entire understanding of Revelation. It has in my view nothing to do with the rapture theory.
With the knowledge given to me through the Divine intervention I know that Revelation can only be understood in one way and that is to realize that every word in Revelation has been placed in a specific position for a very specific reason. The sequence of the words does not necessarily reveal meaning. Meaning is only found by knowing the time measures of Revelation and by taking individual words or groups of words to Scripture where meaning is found.
There are only a few verses in Revelation that can be understood entirely in normal reading.
Revelation 12:5 is part of Revelation, chapter 12 and is part of the entire meaning of the book Revelation. It cannot in any way be interpreted without that knowledge.
A stern warning
Once again, as in my books and on this website, I must draw readers’ attention to the two verses of Revelation that warn that not a single word of Revelation may at any time be tampered with. Rev 22:18-19 “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things that are written in this book.”
In my understanding and interpretation of the prophecy of Revelation it was shown how important it was that these instructions and consequential damnation were given. For if anyone had changed the sequence of the words of Revelation I would not have understood its meaning and its amazing correlation with history, the recent past and the present time.
When are people going to wake up to the great significance of Rev 22:18-19!
“And she brought forth a man child”
In order to understand the first section of this verse every word has to be studied.
“She”
The word “she” symbolizes a number of aspects of Revelation. We can only ascertain the full meaning of the word by going to all the positions in which the word “she” is used and to where there is referred to a “woman”. For this post the following positions are noted.
The word “she” relates to Rev 12:1 “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.” Revelation starts a chapter by referring to the end time and then moves back in history to show the time measure that is hidden in the words of the chapter. Rev 12:1 refers to the woman at the time of the second millennium after the birth of Jesus Christ to whom the knowledge to understand Revelation will be given. We know this through the understanding of the symbols used in that verse.
In Rev 12:2 “she” refers to Mary the mother of Christ and the time of the birth of Jesus: Rev 12:2 “And she being with child cried travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.” [As shown in the previous post, there is a possibility that “cried travailing in birth” may have another function of revealing the location of events in the end time when the nations will realize that the prophecy of Revelation is being fulfilled.]
Rev 12:2 has the further meaning that it indicates the TIME of the birth of Jesus Christ. That is AD1 or the specific time of the birth calculated from 2007 which is according to our knowledge a date between 7BC and 4BC.
Therefore Revelation is in these two verses revealing a time span of about two thousand years.
Dragon
In the verses Revelation 12:3-4 we are told that a force of evil “the dragon” will pursue the woman and her child. Rev 12:4 “And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.” The meaning of “dragon” in Revelation is to be found in Rev 12:10 “the accuser of our brethren”. These words mean that the “dragon” is that form of evil that turns Christian against Christian. Through the ages the “dragon” could be seen in the quarrels among members of a Christian community, the great schisms within the Christian Church through the ages. Revelation reveals that the “dragon” will be active from the time of the birth of Christ right up to the time that the meaning of Revelation is revealed in the twenty-first century.
The word “dragon” is also used in Revelation 20:2 and it is the repetition of the word “dragon” in Rev 20:2 that confirms the time measure of “thousand years” in Revelation, chapter 12. “Rev 20:2 “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.” This is an example of how the entire meaning of Revelation is brought together - the understanding of why the word “dragon” is used in Rev 12:3 and also in Rev 20:2. God placed these words in very specific positions. There is a reason for the positions and if you cannot work it out you cannot understand the total meaning of Revelation!
With this knowledge we can now understand Rev 12:5
“And she brought forth a man child”
Therefore through the knowledge of the word ”she” we know that in “And she brought forth a man child” Revelation reveals the time of the birth of Jesus Christ, but also the second millennium (the time AD 1000 to AD 2000).
Brought forth
Through the words “brought forth” that are also used in Rev 12:13 Revelation reveals that the “dragon” must be brought into relation with the whole understanding of the word ”earth” in Revelation. “And when the dragon saw that he was cast to earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child”. The time of earth is in the second millennium after the birth of Christ (AD 1000 to AD 2000)
Man
Only through the total understanding of the word “man” in Revelation can we know what is meant by “man child”. [For this reason one may not have changed the words of this verse to, say, she ‘brought forth her son’. Just this one change could have caused that we would never have understood Revelation in its entirety.]
What does “man” symbolize in Revelation? A thesis could be written on this aspect of Revelation alone, but I will try to explain it in a few sentences. In order to understand what “man” means in Revelation we have to go to all the positions of the word “man” in Revelation.
One of the meanings of “man child” in Rev 12:5 means that Mary had a Son. Because we know that Revelation is understood in time measure and particularly a “thousand years” in Revelation, chapter 12, we can understand why the word “man” is used. In the total analysis of Revelation “man” incorporates the desires of man: having freedom from tyrannical kings and to enjoy and discover all that relates to earth. It is for this reason that Revelation, chapter 13, “man” is an aspect of the “beast out of the earth” and in that chapter it is revealed how the desires and exploits of “man” would ultimately mislead the nations. From an analysis of the time measure 666 in Revelation chapter 13, we know through time measure and history that the desires of “man” misled the nations in particularly the second millennium after the birth of Jesus Christ.
Therefore we know through the meaning of “man” that it relates to Christ, but also to a time when Christians would want to have their rights acknowledged.
The words “man child” reveals the Christ as both man and God, but also pertains to “the thousand years” that Christians would strive to be free from unscrupulous kings. We know from history that man would fight for a rule of “man” or democracy. Revelation reveals that in the second millennium Jesus Christ understood the desire in men to bring about a ‘rule of men’, because he had come to earth as a “man child”. We know this from the words of Rev 17: 17 “For God hath put it in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.” This is substantiated by the words “who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron”. Even though the rule of the Christian nations would pass from the rule of kings to the rule of men, the Trinity would be in control of the ruling of the nations until the Return. Ultimately all the nations would desire to be brought under the rule of men or democracy in the second millennium. Rev 13:3 “And all the world wondered after the beast”.
And her child was caught up to God and to his throne
These are very significant words in the understanding of Revelation. One meaning is that Revelation reveals that the “dragon” (division among Christians) would not be able to destroy the child Christ or his message. Therefore Rev 20:2 says “And he laid hold on the dragon that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years”. Revelation, chapter 20 also deals with the time measure of a “thousand years”. The time that the “dragon “was “bound” was the time AD1 to AD1000. In that time the Christian Church could grow and the Christian Church and State were a unity. This would change in the course of the second millennium after the coming of the Christ.
It also means that in the end time the division among Christians will not be able to undermine the meaning of Revelation coming to those Christians who have an ear to hear. The desires of men to be free brought about freedom of speech.
There is also another meaning that is hidden in the words “caught up”. It is revealed through the reference 2 Cor 12:2 “I knew a man in Christ …caught up to the third heaven.” These words “caught up” in 2 Cor 12:2 reveal that a certain person in the time of Paul experienced a Divine intervention. Therefore “caught up” can only be understood in the total understanding of Revelation and the knowledge that meaning is revealed through references in Scripture. Revelation is revealing that in the time of the two thousandth anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ a Divine intercession would reveal the meaning of “her child”. Therefore a Divine intercession (“caught up to God and to his throne”) would have to take place in order to understand the symbolism of Revelation, chapter 12 and all of Revelation. A woman would understand Revelation and reveal it to the Christian Church (“her child”).
The interpretation of Rev 12:5 has nothing to do with the rapture theory.
Matthew 24:39-42 “And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away: so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”
According to my understanding most people are going to know that we are living the end time, but the Return is for most going to be a total surprise (“And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away”). People knew that Noah believed that he was told by God to build an ark for a great flood but they did not believe him until the flood happened. It is possible that there is going to be a ‘rapture’ of a kind after Christ appears on the clouds. I say this because of the words “and took them all away”. A ‘rapture’ of a kind is also suggested through the words “one shall be taken, and the other left”. This is, I believe, part of judgement after the Return of the Christ.
Significant in these verses is the message that we have no knowledge of how God is going to judge people and how close the righteous and the unrighteous will live together in the end of days.