The Shot Heard Round the World

What is the shot heard round the world? If your answer is the first rifle shot of the American Revolutionary War, you would be right … sort of! Because, in part, it was a trick question. Tricky? Yes, there have been several shots that have found their mark in history.

According to Wikipedia: “The Shot heard round the world continues to be a stock phrase in the 21^st century, widely used to refer to extraordinary events in general.” Then Wikipedia notes that the phrase has been, “applied to several dramatic moments in sports history.”

Some examples are given such as New York Giants outfielder Bobby Thompson’s game-winning walk-off home run against the Brooklyn Dodgers to win the National League pennant in 1951. Or Gene Sarazen’s memorial golf shot on the 15^th hole of the Masters Tournament in 1935, a double eagle (a score of 2 on a Par 5) which propelled him to a play-off win. Although not listed in Wikipedia, I would add my favorite golfer, Tom Watson’s incredible final round chip-in on the 17^th hole at Pebble Beach to guarantee a win over Jack Nicklaus in the 1982 U.S. Open.

In terms of historical precedent and prominence, the most famous “Shot Heard Round the World,” took place at the battle of Concord where the first British soldiers were killed at the outset of the American Revolutionary War. It was this first real battle of our War of Independence that inspired Ralph Waldo Emerson’s opening stanza of Concord Hymn written in 1837 that produced this iconic phrase.

(The Minute Man statue at the North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts)

The second most recognized shot heard round the world is attributed to the (two) shots fired in 1914 by a Serbian, Gavrilo Princip, when he killed the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. This assassination was considered to be the main catalyst of World War I. The first shot actually hit Ferdinand’s wife, the second struck the Archduke himself.

Until the advent of modern-day sports, “shots” obviously came from guns and artillery. Well, maybe a shot of whiskey! In addition to golf and baseball, we now have a shot on goal (hockey and soccer), a shot in basketball, a shot in tennis, and I’m sure others that I can’t think of right now.

For what it’s worth, I thought the “Shot(s) Heard Round the World” would be a good lead-in to this week’s Eye of Prophecy article, if for no other reason that a play on the word shot exchanging it for “Shout.” And for a little titillating piece of history, with emphasis on little for those who have minimal interest in things historical. Contrasted to some of us (like me) who can’t get enough of history for an abundance of reasons. I suppose that’s one of those: to each his own.

Whichever Shot Heard Round the World is the most well-known or however many others are worthy of such iconic reminiscence or how many more may come along in the future, there is one thing for certain: The “Shout” Heard Around the World will be part and parcel of the greatest event since the birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection of Messiah Jesus, himself.

This stupendous shout combined with a series of titanic trumpet blasts will electrify the world and abruptly launch Planet Earth into the end-times Day of the Lord. Although the magnitude of the shout and trumpet calls will be like none ever heard before or after, there are Old Testament Biblical precedents of shouts and trumpets that portray and pattern integral features of the Rapture. Followed by more shouts and trumpets during the terrible seven-year Tribulation, culminating with the triumphant return of Jesus to this earth to usher in the Millennium.

I initially wrote about this sequence of events in the fifth article ever posted on Eye of Prophecy website, How the Rapture? Posted 8-24-13. And did so through a meticulous examination and comparison of the two main Biblical passages about the Rapture—I Thessalonians Chapter 4 and I Corinthians Chapter 15. I would encourage you to read that article; and, if time permits, the first four articles on the Rapture, posted in July and August, 2013.

How Will the Rapture Actually Take Place

Let’s begin with a premise supported heavily by Scriptural evidence as well as common sense application to unfolding of the Rapture itself.

Premise: Contrary to the prevailing notion even among well-known students of prophecy, this shout and series of trumpet calls will be heard by the entire world, not just believers taken to heaven in the Rapture. And, all of the sights and sounds of the entire sequence of the Rapture will last for several minutes. Only the transfiguration of the bodies of both the dead in Christ and believers alive at the Rapture will take place in “the blink of an eye.”

Here is the Apostle Paul’s first introduction to the astounding event we call the Rapture:

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up (harpazo) in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever” (I Thessalonians 4:16-17, parenthesis mine; harpazo is the Greek world for “caught up” from which we get the Latin term Rapture).

Next is Paul’s second (chronological) explanation of the Rapture, which provides additional information to I Thessalonians 4:

“But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed” (I Corinthians 15:51-52).

Here is an excerpt from Eye of Prophecy article, How the Rapture? (in italics):

For the past several decades, every commentary, sermon, book, or article that deals with this passage–at least everything I’ve heard and read–consolidates, by default, the dynamics of this passage on the Rapture with the other main passage found in I Thessalonians Chapter 4. With a resulting conclusion that the entire scope or sequential events of the Rapture will transpire at warp speed … blink of an eye. For sure, the two passages are intricately related; but there is also a specific variance found in I Corinthians 15 that is profoundly distinct from the companion passage in I Thessalonians Chapter 4.

In I Corinthians 15, what is it precisely that takes place in the nanosecond blink of an eye? A little hint: To one thing only, which (blink of an eye) doesn’t apply to the rest of the Rapture events described in I Thessalonians 4, in terms of those events also taking place in a split-second.

Another excerpt from How the Rapture? Pertaining to I Corinthians 15:

Here is where we students of the Bible (I’m including myself) overlooked or took for granted one little (impersonal) pronoun. Because we skimmed over this two-letter word, we missed or dismissed the important textual relationship of this pronoun to the antecedent that immediately precedes it….

First defining “antecedent.” Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines antecedent as: “One that goes before … a substantive word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun …a word or group of words replaced and referred to by a substitute…”

The substitute is almost always a pronoun found immediately after the “substantive word or phrase”, which is the case in I Corinthians 15: 51-52. So let’s break it down.

First, the phrase in this passage: “…but we will all be transformed!”

Second, the pronoun, “It“, which begins the very next verse, “It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye….” Can you make the connection? What specifically is “it” referencing or taking the place of in the text? You got it: It is referring to and the same thing as what Paul just said would occur which is, “…but we will all be transformed.”

The Apostle Paul further explains “it” (meaning the actual transformation itself, which is the astonishing change of our earthly body to that of our brand new heavenly body) by explaining how “it” (the transfiguration) will take place. “It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye.”

When will it happen?

Answer: “…when the last trumpet is blown.”

Continuing with another excerpt:

In the New American Standard translation, we read, “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet….” (I Corinthians 15: 51-52). Notice, that the pronoun (it) is not found in this translation. Why? Because the connection between the action of “changed” (transformed) and the how of the change (twinkling of an eye) is inseparable, irrefutable, and exclusive. Both passages contain essentially the same composition; with the New Living Translation and other translations (such as the Jewish Bible) accurately and emphatically reinforcing the translation from Greek to English, by use of a pronoun that substitutes for the mystery of the transformation itself.

I hope you see this as much more than just a boring exercise in grammar and syntax. It is exceptionally significant that we understand what is going on in this passage. Saying it another way: The only thing that will happen in a moment or blink of an eye (at the instant the last trumpet is blown) is the actual physical transfiguration of our earthly bodies. The “it” does not apply to anything else in this passage; nor can “the transformation” specifically apply to the events so majestically portrayed in I Thessalonians Chapter 4. In fact, I Thessalonians 4 doesn’t say anything about the blink of an eye transformation at all. But we’ve inadvertently extended or expanded the instantaneous change found in I Corinthians 15 to include the entire sequence of events described in I Thessalonians 4.

Coordinating I Thessalonians 4 with I Corinthians 15

Now let’s interconnect the events from both of the above Rapture passages. This will enable us to understand clearly that the entire episode of the Rapture is progressive and will take place in real-time and space. Only the actual transformation of believer’s bodies, both dead and living, will occur in the blink of an eye; yet even that is a measure of time. As you will see, the only speculation that I will engage in is the approximate (if not actual) length of time (minutes) over which the Rapture will unfold. However, that “speculation” has a Biblical precedent. We’ll get to that later. For now, think Walls of Jericho!

We’ll begin again with I Thessalonians Chapter 4 which, as indicated earlier, is the first systematic revelation of the Rapture which immediately precedes the beginning of the seven-year Tribulation. In the subsequent disclosure of the Rapture to the Corinthian believers, the Apostle Paul provides two additional features for a comprehensive grasp of everything taking place. Those two aspects not found in I Thessalonians: (1) the Last Trumpet call which obviously implies there will be more than one (a series of trumpet blasts); (2) The split-second (blink of an eye) transfiguration of our dead or dying earthly bodies to our eternal spiritual bodies.

Then we’ll weave in I Corinthians 15 with I Thessalonians 4 to complete the prophetic tapestry of the monumental Rapture event that will liftoff what Scripture often refers to as the Day of the Lord (Rapture, Tribulation, and Millennium).

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves” (I Thessalonians 4:16).

STOP.

The trumpet call of God and Christians who have died will rise from their graves, requires us to now switch over to I Corinthians for amplification.

“…We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It (the transformation) will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet (last trumpet as Paul has already stated, with clear inference that there are several trumpet blasts) sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed” (I Corinthians 15:51-52, parenthesis mine).

Paul begins the Corinthians’ passage with: “We will not all die…” Which is a direct reference and connection to I Thessalonians 4, thus, we’ll resume with I Thessalonians: “Then, together with them (those who have been resurrected from the grave), we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air…” I Thessalonians 4:17).

Stay with me, and you’ll see how this works.

The Syntax Sequence:

Once again, here is the wording succession in I Thessalonians 4: “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God…” (Verse 16).

These three particulars (shout, voice, trumpet call) of the Rapture have obviously been quoted in the sentence sequence order in which they are presented in I Thessalonians 4. However, with one significant observation (commentary): The Lord’s commanding shout, accompanied by the voice of an archangel are linked to the “trumpet call” by the connective word and; rather than “then” or “when” which are terms used to demonstrate sequence, i.e. first this, then that.

And is defined in Webster’s Dictionary: “used as a function word to indicate connection or addition of items within the same class or type; used to join sentence elements of the same grammatical rank or function…”

In other words, the main purpose and use of “and” is to connect the elements (separate parts) of a single sentence together in/with equal “rank or function.” As opposed to stating or even suggesting that there is a progression in which the events will or should unfold.

What I’m saying is that the Lord’s shout, the angel’s voice, and the trumpet call(s) are all component parts of the beginning phase of the Rapture … the means that will get the attention of the entire world, both believers and unbelievers. Followed by the reason/purpose for this majestic introduction and attention grabber, which is the transformation of the dead to resurrected bodies. Then the transfiguration of living believers, resulting in our joint ascension to meet the Lord in the air/clouds.

Which, in turn means that the trumpet calls could (and I believe will) actually be the first thing people will hear, followed by or alongside the archangel’s voice, then the Lord’s commanding shout to “Come up here.” Which is in reverse order of the sentence structure, but with recognition that the connective word “and” isn’t demanding or even suggesting that they are progressively or sequentially in that order. Only that each one of these features combined together will commence the catching up (Rapture) of believers, both dead and living, “when the Lord himself will come down from heaven…”

The Actual Sequence

(1) A Series of Trumpet Blasts: Again deferring to Paul’s elaboration (clarification) in I Corinthians 15, the actual transformation of believers—spectacular resurrection of dead Christians immediately followed by an astonishing change of the bodies of living believers—will take place when the last trumpet is blown. “Last trumpet” implies unmistakably that there will be a series of trumpet blasts preceding the final trumpet call. This is precisely the pattern of trumpet blasts throughout Scripture, a sequence that took several minutes to conclude.

(2) Resurrection of Believers from Their Graves, With New Instantaneously Transformed Spiritual Bodies: The blink of an eye change in I Corinthians 15 logically must precede the “rise from their graves” as recorded in I Thessalonians 4. There must first be the transformation of dead believers to a brand new spiritual body before they can escape the confines of their graves or from wherever they were entombed (such as the ocean or even scattered ashes).

Recreating their bodies will be absolutely no problem for God. He is, after all, the Creator of all living things. He has ultimate power over life and death. However, the implication is crystal clear here. There will be another lapse of time (perhaps a minute or two) when all dead saints will “arise from their graves” after the blink of an eye transformation of their bodies—which will take place when the last trumpet is blown.

(3) Followed By Transfiguration of Believers Who Are Alive: I’m convinced that there will be a few minutes for living believers as well as unbelievers the world over to see some of those raised from the dead before believers who are alive will be transformed.

There is a precedent to this:

“…The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. They left the cemetery after Jesus’s resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people” (Matthew 27:52-53).

This was a special preview—privilege granted by God to some believers when Christ died and arose to conquer death itself—of the Rapture resurrection of the dead in Christ. The “many people” that saw them would have been composed of both believers and unbelievers.

(4) A Commanding Shout from Messiah Jesus: The Shout Heard Around the World.

As stated in a couple of prior Eye of Prophecy articles, I firmly believe this shout will either be the exact words or something similar to what Jesus said to John of Revelation which began the series of Tribulation revelations to John. It was a microcosm representation of the Rapture itself, when John was taken to heaven to watch and record, but not actually experience all of the Tribulation events.

“Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before (referring to Jesus speaking to John as found in Revelation 1:10 in a “loud voice like a trumpet blast”) spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, ‘Come up here’…” (Revelation 4:1, italics for emphasis, parenthesis mine).

Once again, I Thessalonians:

“…with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel…” (I Thessalonians 4:16). Here it is not clear whether Jesus’s shout will be in or with or like the voice of the archangel (there are several instances of angels shouting before some of the Tribulation judgments are unleashed), or if the archangel (possibly Michael) will shout along with Jesus. However, the way the word “with” is used in this passage strongly suggests that an archangel will also shout in addition to and before the initial command from Jesus for believers to, “Come up here.” That Jesus won’t be shouting like or in the same manner or with the same voice as an angel (would shout).

(5) The Final Phase of the Rapture: “Then (after everything already described in both passages takes place), together with them (the resurrected dead in Christ) we who are alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air…” (I Thessalonians 4:17, parenthesis mine).

Which means after the living believers have had the awesome privilege of watching the dead in Christ rise from their graves (perhaps even departed family or friends or acquaintances), those same resurrected believers will observe the sudden transformation of the living! That’s why Paul emphasizes in both passages that the dead in Christ will arise first. But they can’t arise from their graves until/unless they are first transfigured—in the blink of an eye. THEN living believers will “also be transformed” and “together with them … will be caught up in the clouds…”

For unbelievers these sights and sounds will be a source of shock and awe. For believers, a scene of pure joy and ecstasy (which is part of the meaning of the world Rapture).

It simply doesn’t get any better than that!

The Use of the Shofar and Trumpets in Scripture

Throughout the Old Testament we find many examples of patterns or types of people, places, and things that foreshadow New Testament and end-times fulfillment or completion.

Such as: Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac, only for God to provide a substitute (ram), just as God provided the ultimate once for all substitute (for sin) through the sacrificial atonement of His Son, Messiah Jesus; much of the life and achievements of Joseph representing Jesus’ life; the Levitical Sacrificial System as a model of redemption through the shedding of innocent animal blood—to be set aside in favor of the New Covenant of Grace; the seven Jewish Festivals foreshadowing the first and second advent of Messiah Jesus; Enoch suddenly taken from the earth alive to spare him from the Great Flood, depicting the Rapture of believers—sparing us from the Great Tribulation. There are many others.

For purpose of today’s article, it is the use of trumpets in the Old Testament to announce important events such as the Jewish Festivals or warnings to the Jews of impending danger or attack. Or in the case of our specific example: the blowing of the shofar/trumpets that signaled God’s direct intervention in Israel’s first victory over her enemies after entering the Promised Land.

The Walls of Jericho

“Joshua got up early the next morning, and the priests again carried the Ark of the Lord. The seven priests with the rams’ horns (shofar) marched in front of the Ark of the Lord, blowing their horns. Again the armed men marched both in front of the priests with the horns and behind the Ark of the Lord … They followed this pattern for six days.

“On the seventh day the Israelites got up at dawn and marched around the town as they had done before. But this time they went around the town seven times. The seventh time around, as the priests sounded the long blast on their horns, Joshua commanded the people, ‘Shout!’ For the Lord has given you the town!” (Joshua 6:12-16).

You know what happened next:

“When the people heard the sound of the rams’ horns, they shouted as loud as they could. Suddenly the walls of Jericho collapsed, and the Israelites charged straight into the town and captured it” (Verse 20).

The capture of the city was an anticlimactic foregone conclusion. The victory had already been won; it was just a matter of following God’s battle plan. March around the city, blow the shofar, shout like never before, and watch God supernaturally open Jericho by bringing down the walls.

In like manner, Christ has already won the ultimate battle by conquering death itself. Because he is the “resurrection and the life” he was the first to arise from the dead with a glorified body. Messiah Jesus will open the tombs of those who have been redeemed by believing and receiving him as their personal Savior. It’s just a matter of (a short) time before our actual physical victory over death (those already departed) and decaying bodies (those believers still alive) will be finally achieved.

God ushered his people into the Promised Land of Israel through a supernatural victory over their enemies by breaching the walls of Jericho. How was this done? With trumpets and a loud shout. Likewise, Messiah Jesus will breach the graves of fallen believers and along with living believers usher them into a Land of Promise … Heaven! And what will precede this final victory over our archenemy death? Easy answer: Trumpets and the Shout Heard Around the World!

“Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians 15:54-57).

The Whole World Will See and Hear the Sights and Sounds of the Rapture

Here is another excerpt from How the Rapture? (In italics):

Normally, the blowing of the shofar wasn’t a simple quick, one-time burst of sound. Rather, it entailed a series of blasts lasting several minutes, with each part of the series different from the others, and sometimes each component part repeated again.

Nowhere in Scripture do we find that only God’s people heard trumpet calls or the blasts from a shofar. All within earshot, including their enemies, heard the shofar sound. In the Bible, we also see events in which God’s prophets and sometimes the people saw and heard angels or the pre-incarnate Christ, but so did unbelievers. Remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the book of Daniel. Those three were thrown into the hotter-than-hot furnace, but how many men did Nebuchadnezzar see when he peered into the furnace? That’s right: Four. And the fourth was none other than the pre-incarnate Messiah.

Was it only Saul who heard the voice of Jesus on the road to Damascus? No, his accomplices also heard the sound of the voice that spoke to Saul. They didn’t actually see Jesus, but then neither did Saul; he only saw the blinding light that caused him three days of blindness. My point and premise: I’m wondering how we ever arrived at the notion that those left behind at the Rapture won’t hear the trumpet calls, and not see perhaps a flash of light or afterglow or radiance or some tangible evidence at the precise spot where a believer miraculously changed in front of them when the final trumpet call was sounded. Why would God close the ears or the eyes of the unsaved? Seeing and hearing is often times believing.

With the Biblical precedents and parallels to support the premise that the entire world will hear the trumpets and, conversely, the lack of reference in Scripture to say otherwise, why wouldn’t God want the world to see and hear the Rapture? I’m convinced that many will immediately fall down on their knees and call upon the name of the Lord to save them. This applies not only to the trumpets, but also to the Lord’s shout and the voice of the archangel. Why wouldn’t they be heard the world over?

This literal lapse of time needed for a literal series of visual and audio events to occur will NOT take place in a blink of the eye.

In fact, the more I think about it, the more inclined I am to propose that those left behind may even witness our newly resurrected (the dead) and transformed (the living) bodies ascend to heaven. Why not? Isn’t that part of the whole sequence? We’ve mistakenly (meaning without any direct support or evidence from Scripture), assumed that the microsecond change of our bodies’ means that those bodies instantly vanish or disappear from sight. Since the blink of an eye phenomenon relates only to the actual transfiguration itself, why do we also equate that with a split second disappearance?

I Thessalonians 4 tells us that we will be “caught up” in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Why would caught up necessarily equate to an instant vanishing? Remember how Jesus ascended to heaven as described in Acts 1: 9-11? All who were with him saw him rising into heaven, until they could no longer see him. One of the two angels who showed up even said, “Why are you standing here staring into heaven?” There was no vanishing going on. Picture watching a hot-air balloon ascending. Why wouldn’t our meeting Jesus in the clouds be just like His ascension to heaven? Our transformed bodies will be like his … why not our rising to meet him be similar or identical?

How Long Will This Take?

Many people, even unbelievers have heard of know about the divine significance of the number seven in Scripture as related to the completion of God’s plan for the human race. The Bible is replete with the number seven, especially in the book of Revelation. Realizing that we can’t know for sure how long the Rapture sequence of events will last, I would, nonetheless, propose (beyond mere speculation) that it will last for seven minutes.

When something as incredibly dramatic as the Rapture begins to unfold, seven minutes will seem like … well, a lot longer than seven minutes.

Just imagine a seven-minute grand finale of a 4^th of July fireworks display. It seems like it takes much longer, because of the continuous exploding action (pun intended) going on around and above us.

Not only the number seven in general throughout Scripture, but especially because of the striking parallel between the victory over Jericho for the Lord’s physically chosen people (national Israel) and the ultimate victory over death and the grave by God’s spiritually chosen people (individual Jews and Gentiles) at the Rapture resurrection and transformation of believers.

How many days did the people trek around Jericho with shofar blaring?

Answer: Seven.

How many priests marched in front of the Ark of the Covenant each of the seven days?

Answer: Seven.

How many times on the seventh day did the armies of Israel march around the city?

Answer: Seven.

How many Seal, Bowl and Trumpet Judgments in Revelation? Seven of each set of judgments.

And, for the purpose of this week’s article, I found there are fourteen loud shouts (described as a shout, great shout, mighty voice, a loud voice, a voice like thunder, or what sounded like a trumpet blast) in Revelation, from either Jesus or an angel or one of the four living beings—cherubim who are a higher rank of angels!

They are: Revelation 1:10; 4:1; 6:1; 10:3; 11:12; 12:10; 14:7; 14:8; 14:9, 16:1; 16:17; 18:2; 18:21, and 21:3.

Excluded is an eagle “crying loudly,” the shouts of the hosts/crowds of heaven, and one angel shouting to other angels. We’re looking at just those shouts from the Lord or angels directed to the tribulation saints or to unbelievers left behind on earth. Of special note is Revelation 11:12, where the same phrase that Jesus uttered to John is repeated to resurrect the two mighty witnesses (Elijah and Moses) from the dead.

“Then a loud voice from heaven called to the two prophets. ‘Come up here!’ And they rose to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched.”

Amazing!

Fourteen shouts … seven twice over to reinforce the number of completeness, wholeness, and finality of the Lord’s ultimate triumph over Satan, Antichrist, the False Prophet, and all those who follow and even worship this evil trio.

Two sets of seven to validate the Shout Heard around the World. Which will begin the Day of the Lord culminating in the Millennial Reign of the King of all kings, our Lord and Savior Messiah Jesus.

Things to Ponder

Whether the entire Rapture sequence takes seven minutes or fourteen or somewhere in between, I’ll close with one last excerpt from the previously identified Eye of Prophecy article:

This will allow time for such things as: pulling cars over to the side of the road; awaking in the middle of the night from a deep sleep; turning off the T.V or loud music; stop the yelling at someone; hugging your un-believing spouse or friend good-bye; the short, but most intense praise and worship ever experienced by Christians on this earth; and, hopefully, a few minutes for some foxhole conversions all over the world.

Do you see what difference it would make and how it could enhance and expand our view of and increase even more our enthusiasm for the Rapture, if the order of events in the Rapture took place over several minutes? It would be far more than just a “poof” one second here, next second gone type of experience. Next to the triumphant resurrection of Jesus Christ, it will be the greatest celebration of joy ever experienced by believers in Christ. And in real-time and space no less; no special effects, no suspension of time, no virtual reality … just the real thing. None of which (except for the transfiguration of our bodies) can or will take place in the twinkling of an eye.

Now that’s something to shout about!