It could be the proverbial understatement to say that this week’s Eye of Prophecy article is different.

But then we are in the last days of the end times, when many things are going to be different, supernaturally so. Not the least of which is an extraordinary event to prepare for the triumphant physical return of Messiah Jesus to establish the glorious Kingdom of God on earth.

That trigger point is none other than the Rapture. Followed by seven years of unmitigated deceit, destruction, and death before Jesus steps in and puts an end to the violence, injustice, and corruption of this wicked world we live in.

Today’s post is not a docudrama, as those are reserved for events which have already occurred.

Rather, it will be in the form of Seven-Act Play (the scenes are short); to reasonably represent and dramatically depict what could and probably will occur during the Rapture.

It is based primarily on a previous article, which provides Scriptural documentation and correlation accompanied with commentary to support a rational premise: The entire sequence of the Rapture will take several minutes; only the bodily transfiguration of raised from the dead believers and believers still alive will be instantaneous.

If you like, grab a soda or whatever and plop a bag of popcorn in the microwave.

Open your mind and heart; picture what’s happening; fill in your own details if you like; and stretch your imagination to accommodate the reality of what’s going to take place in what I’m convinced is the near-future.

ACT ONE

Netanya, Israel (7:00 PM)

For the Israeli family of four, their Passover Seder meal was nearly over. Eitan Shaked looked admirably at his wife Esther and grinned at their 14-year old daughter, Netanya, whom they had named after their beloved town. Eitan then directed a smile to his 12-year old son, Naphtali, named after the tribe, that was Eitan’s and Esther’s favorite—for a reason they hadn’t fully grasped. They just liked the name … Naphtali. And they wanted their son’s name to begin with the same letter as their daughter’s name.

He picked up the fourth small cup of wine and motioned for his wife and children to do the same with theirs.

For nearly all Jews, whether religious or secular or in between—Passover was the epitome of all that was Jewish. It was the High Holy Day that seamlessly blended fun and somberness. Singing Dayenu; asking and answering the five questions; the children searching for the hidden afikomen … generated smiles and laughter. Reading of the Torah and partaking of the four cups solemnly reminded them of their ancient heritage, brought vividly to life with the amazing return of the Jews to their Promised Land and miraculous rebirth of Israel as a sovereign nation.

But this and the past two Seders were remarkably different. Eitan and his family celebrated Passover with an enthusiasm and meaning that exceeded the traditional Seder. Three years earlier … father, mother, daughter, and son: all had believed in and received Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah on the same day and place—the Messianic Congregation of Beit Mashiach (House of Messiah) in Netanya, Israel.

As he held the cup of wine, Eitan’s departed friend, Benjamin, flashed before his eyes. A year before he died in a car accident, Benjamin had persuaded the entire family to attend just one meeting at Beit Mashiach. That’s all it took. Like many other Israelis, both Eitan and Esther had longed for Messiah to appear, to bring final redemption to Israel—though they knew little of what that redemption would be or how it would be accomplished.

On that fateful Shabbat service, the pastor of Beit Mashiach had delivered a message like nothing the Shaked family had ever heard. A message of love, hope, and redemption purchased by the once and for all sacrifice of Jesus—the very Messiah who they and most Jews assumed hadn’t yet arrived. The same Messiah who would return to take all those who had believed and received him as Lord and Savior—Jew and Gentile alike—home to heaven.

Their Passover celebration now included Messiah Jesus, Son of God. The Passover Lamb whose precious blood shed at the cross meant that God had forgiven all their sins and they would not have to experience God’s final judgment on humanity. They had already been pardoned and passed over. All they had to do was believe in Jesus and what he did for them.

Earlier Esther had read aloud Exodus 6:6-7. As they each held the fourth cup of wine, Eitan reminded them of the significance of each cup, but as Jews who had found the very essence of their Jewishness in Messiah himself. They were God’s promises to his people symbolized by the four cups of wine, expanded to a Messianic message: I will bring you out (of being part of the world system); I will deliver you (from the bondage of sin); I will redeem you (with a great price to purchase pardon from the penalty of sin); I will take you (to be with me in heaven and to spare you from the final wrath of God).

And then it happened.

As they began to sip their fourth cup of wine, the sound of a Shofar shook the entire house. But it was a gentle shaking, more like vibrations reverberating through every piece of furniture. They could even feel the resonance in their hands and arms, as the wine in their cups quivered from the majestic call.

It was the loudest sound they had ever heard. Yet, it was inexplicably soft enough not to traumatize. Eitan instantly knew that it came from high above and far beyond their house, their town, and Israel itself. The dropped jaws and wide eyes of Esther and the children silently echoed their agreement. This was no ordinary Shofar.

“Abba!” Netanya exclaimed. “What is that?”

They put down their cups.

“Exactly, what you think it is,” Eitan answered. “It couldn’t be anything else. Esther, Netanya, Naphtali; the time has come for Messiah to take us home.”

“I’m a little scared,” Naphtali whispered.

“It’s okay my boy,” Esther said. “Just trust Jesus. This is going to be more wonderful than we can imagine. I wonder how long it will take?”

They listened intently as the Shofar blast subsided. Soon, another began … different from the first.

“Quick, let’s get in the car and drive to the cemetery,” Eitan said. “If I’m right, there will be two more Shofars after this one. The cemetery is five minutes away. We should have time.”

“Time for what?” Esther asked.

“Time to see Benjamin coming out of his grave.”

On the way, Eitan hurriedly told them about an internet article he had read not long ago, though he couldn’t recall the name of the website. But he remembered the title: The Shout Heard Around the World.

“If that article is correct, then we could have up to fourteen minutes or even longer” said Eitan. “Of course, the author didn’t know for sure and said so. But he presented some compelling evidence from Scripture that the whole sequence of the Rapture is much longer than the split-second change of our bodies that’s going to happen any minute now.”

During their frenzied trip to the cemetery that took less than four minutes, they saw what seemed to be the entire population of Netanya spilling out of their homes; looking up, shielding their eyes from the blazing light in the east that made the western sunset seem pitch black. They had just stepped out of the car when another blast of the Shofar softly shook the ground on which they stood.

Eitan looked at his watch. 7:09 PM.

ACT TWO

New York City (12:00 PM) – 7 hours behind Israeli time

Nancy and her co-worker friend Susan slid out of their office chairs in one of New York’s largest banks. It was time for the best lunch of the week, as it was TGIF. Nancy was in a hurry; Susan strained to keep pace.

When the sound exploded, both sank back into their chairs. In disbelief at what she was hearing, Nancy scanned the entire office floor. Everyone had the same dazed expression that she was certain had enveloped her face. No one spoke, as they listened to what seemed like a dozen orchestras each with a hundred trumpets echoing one symphonic sound.

As the massive trumpet sound ended gradually, Susan spoke first. It was an utterance of sheer delight.

“Lord, it’s really happening!”

Only one person responded before the second blast began. From across the floor, a woman who disliked Susan’s occasional break-room talk about her faith in Christ yelled sarcastically, “Oh my God, what IS happening?”

Susan didn’t reply.

Though it was difficult to talk or even think above the second blast, Nancy remembered the two times that Susan had personally told her about Jesus. That he alone can save people from their sin; and the second conversation—he would be coming soon in the Rapture. Something about trumpets sounding.

Nancy whispered in Susan’s ear: “Do you mean what I think you mean?”

“Yes,” Susan said with unbridled enthusiasm. “Jesus is coming for me … for all who believe in him. It’s going to happen any second now.”

Nancy shook her head. “It’s just too unbelievable.”

Susan peered intently but compassionately at her. “Nancy, Jesus loves you. He wants you to be with him, too. You need to get saved right now.”

As if cued by a maestro, everyone around them began to pour out of their second-floor office, many using the stairs; the elevators were already in overflow capacity. It wasn’t just the sound that was so close it seemed to penetrate their bodies, a surround-a-sound emanating from what was clearly a vast distance yet permeating the atmosphere around them; it was the brilliant light pouring through the eastside windows. That and hundreds of people already spilling out of nearby buildings onto sidewalks and streets.

Nancy assumed that millions of other New Yorkers had hurried outside from office buildings, homes, schools, restaurants, stores, buses, and cars, and when they could … from subways. Some eagerly, like Susan. Most with trepidation, like herself.

Nancy quickly surveyed the scene. Half of the people were silent as they listened to the third incredible blast. The other half were on their phones with family or friends in New York, in other cities and states and countries.

“Can you hear it there in Houston?”

“Yes, I can see the light, too.”

ACT THREE

Sydney, Australia (2:00 AM) – 7 hours ahead of Israeli time

Peggy’s deep sleep was no match for the blast of the Shofar.

Now twenty-eight, she had accepted Jesus as her Savior at the tender age of nine. But only for the past four years had she really begun to grow in her faith and walk with the Lord.

Married at nineteen, Peggy’s husband was kind, somewhat loving and respectful, but not when it came to her relationship with Christ. He detested anything Biblical and, except for her, could barely tolerate Jews and Christians. He had flatly refused to attend church with her; just a month ago he had ordered her never to “preach to me again.”

Out of curiosity Peggy had attended a Jewish Messianic synagogue not far from her home. She was developing a passion for Israel and Biblical end-times prophecies concerning the return of the Jews and restoration of Israel in God’s providential plan for humanity. Though she was Gentile, one Jewish couple with four children befriended her when she had, without being asked, told them she couldn’t have children. Three times they had invited her to dinner, during days when her husband was on 24-hour duty at the local fire station.

The Jewish husband was skilled with the Shofar and was always eager to blow it for family and guests. Jolted from her sleep, Peggy immediately knew that the powerful blast was from a Shofar. Her husband used ear plugs; he couldn’t stand any noise whatsoever during the sometimes day-hours when he slept.

Stunned again by the second blast of the ubiquitous Shofar, she was still skeptical that this was the Rapture. She arose and sat on the edge of the bed. Though she had heard a few messages and read I Thessalonians 4 and I Corinthians 15 several times, she couldn’t imagine that it would happen like this. She assumed or at least wanted to be in church when the time came.

And, along with nearly all believers, she thought the whole thing would be over in a nanosecond.

Her husband stirred but was otherwise oblivious to the steady staccato of the Shofar. How could he not hear it?

Their bedroom was on the west side of the house. Absorbed in the second sounding of the Shofar, Peggy hadn’t noticed the soft but intense glow that had enveloped the bedroom. She sprinted to the living room, pushed aside the curtains, and stumbled back in wonder at the brilliant light that had dissolved the darkness of the eastern sky.

She lifted her hands to the heavens and yelled jubilantly, “Lord, this is it, isn’t it!”

She ran back to the bedroom and shook her husband violently.

“Jason, get up … now! You need to ask Jesus to save you. There’s no time to lose.”

Grumbling, Jason pulled out the ear plugs; however, the second blast had ended. “What’s the matter with you? Are you crazy?”

Barely able to contain her excitement, Peggy realized that she needed to calm down. He had seen enough hysterical people in his fire rescue efforts but didn’t appreciate panic for no reason.

“Listen to me. Any second now I’m going up to heaven with Christians all over the world. I told you about the Rapture once before. It’s happening right now.”

“It’s a lie,” he retorted. “You’re just resorting to this insane tactic in order…”

At that instant, the third blast of the Shofar split the atmosphere and reverberated throughout the house.

“Come, look.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the living room. “Is the sound of the trumpet and that light a lie? You know you’ve never heard or seen anything like that in your life.”

Jason’s expression turned from a furrowed frown to a dropped jaw. Peggy could clearly see that the awe-inspiring resonance of the Shofar and the brilliant eastern sky belied all that was reasonable to him. He faced her and their eyes met. Doubt quickly returned to his face.

“There’s got to be a logical explanation,” he muttered.

“Please, Jason, can’t you for once in your life believe what the Bible says. It’s happening right in front of your ears and eyes.”

“I don’t know…”

Peggy was beside herself at Jason’s stubbornness, but she gathered her thoughts and interrupted him: “I love you, and so does Jesus. I’m going outside. Do you want to come with and watch me go up to heaven? Or would you prefer we stay here, and you can watch me disappear through the ceiling?”

She didn’t wait for his answer. He followed her. People were already standing outside their houses with heads lifted.

INTERLUDE

Complements of smart phones, laptops, iPads, 24-hour T.V. News stations, and short-wave radio, nearly the entire world knew in a few minutes that this was a global event.

Pilots radioing control towers: “We’re turning around. Find a runway for us to land.”

More than one Christian air controller replied: “Captain, are you or your co-pilot a believer in Christ?”

Loved ones calling and being called: “Can you believe what’s happening!” Or, “I should have listened to you.”

“Is this the end?”

Some answered: “No, it’s the Rapture … the beginning of the end!”

Media sources sent mixed messages.

“Please stay inside. Don’t make the crowds any bigger. Whatever this is; even if it’s the so-called Rapture, it will be over soon. How bad can it be? Things will only get better for those of us who remain.”

With a few broadcasts programmed to continue their caption in case the entire staff was taken:

“It is the Rapture! CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD AND YOU WILL BE SAVED. If you are left behind, then: Call on the name of the Lord and you will be saved. Though not from the Great Tribulation to come.”

ACT FOUR

Netanya, Israel (7:10 PM)

Eitan Shaked nestled close to his wife. He held the hand of their son, Naphtali. Esther grasped Netanya’s arm. As they stood at Benjamin’s gravesite, Eitan counted five other believers from his congregation who evidently had the same idea as him. They, too, were standing near graves of family or friends. They waved to each other with shouts of, “Yes!”

The Shofar sounded again. If there was any doubt that the first three were global, this fourth blast was surely being carried on every sound wave existing in and above the earth’s atmosphere. Millions of megaphones and loud speakers couldn’t have produced a sound so strong, so pure, so universal; yet so moderate as to not burst ear drums.

He immediately recognized it as the fourth and final of the Jewish Shofar sequence that had been handed down through tradition by and to the Jews for centuries. But now it was for all believers in Messiah, Jew and Gentile alike.

Though it was difficult to speak and hear, Esther asked, “Will this be the final Shofar?”

“Yes, I’m sure it will,” Eitan said. “It’s almost time.”

He had just finished speaking when they heard the voice from above, “Children of the most High God; the appointed time has come.”

“I’m pretty sure that was the voice of the archangel,” Eitan said.

Eitan glanced at his watch again. He was about to tell Esther how much time had elapsed from the first blast, when the fourth Shofar stopped suddenly, not gradually like the others. Within seconds, the expected, but nonetheless stunning scene unfolded. Benjamin’s grave exploded as did a few others in the cemetery.

“Mom, Dad, look!” Netanya yelled.

They watched in total awe as Benjamin’s remains were lifted from his grave by an unseen hand. Then, ten, maybe fifteen seconds later, his skeletal form was radically changed. Too fast for Eitan or anyone else to see how. They only saw the results.

Benjamin stood on the ground and looked directly at them, then at his body.

He was enshrouded in white clothing they had never seen before or knew existed. If it was a robe, it seemed almost transparent, as if it was part of his form. His entire body and face were indescribably perfect. As though he had just been born that way without the imperfections that develop with age.

Immediately, Eitan realized this was the spiritual body spoken of by the Apostle Paul. It was as though Benjamin’s spirit was on the outside enveloping his flawless features, instead of the unseen spirit on the inside of a natural blemished body. The two, body and spirit were one. Beautifully blended one with the other. Both visible, yet indivisible.

Eitan knew that the same thing was happening to resurrected believers the world over. For those who had been cremated, the Lord was raising their ashes, bringing them together with the same supernatural force that rolled away the stone at Jesus’s tomb. With the same instantaneous transformation as the decomposing and skeleton bodies. So, too, the remains of those buried at sea.

“Benjamin, it’s you. You’re much better than…” Eitan couldn’t finish.

He felt a burst of energy that seemed to come from inside out but also outside in. It was over before he saw anything else. His wife Esther had been an attractive woman. It wasn’t just in his beholding eye; others had told him the same thing. There she stood next to him more beautiful than she had ever been. An appearance that wasn’t sexual at all; rather a supernatural loveliness that transcended anything natural. An ageless beauty that was immortal.

So, too, Netanya and Naphtali. Changed dramatically, but just as dramatically the same person … each one of them.

“Look at you!” Benjamin pointed to Eitan.

“Look at you!” Eitan trumpeted in return.

“Look at our kids,” Esther exclaimed. “Same age, but older. How can that be!”

“Hallelujah,” Eitan roared.

“Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised,” Esther shouted.

In unison, Netanya and Naphtali said, “We love you Jesus.”

Which as it turned out was right on cue. The next voice thundered from above, from everywhere.

“COME UP HERE!”

“That was Jesus himself,” Eitan shouted. His watch was gone, but he estimated that from the first shofar had been maybe fourteen or fifteen minutes.

Immediately the raised dead and those still alive and transformed began to rise in the air … exactly how, they didn’t know. By whom, they knew for sure. It wasn’t a fast ascent like a kite, nor was it slow like a hot air balloon. There was time for ecstasy to look around at other believers within sight rising simultaneously. And for a passing moment, a time of sadness when looking down at the many who were staring into the sky.

ACT FIVE

New York City (2:10 PM)

Nancy’s arm locked with Susan’s as they stood on the New York sidewalk adjacent to their office building. When the fourth Shofar split the heavens, the general silence of the crowd—prevalent at the beginning of the Shofars—had fully erupted into a pendulum-swinging cacophony of murmuring and exclamations, of anger and jubilation, of fear and confidence, of perplexity and certainty.

Though scared, Nancy mustered as much poise as she could: “Susan, I know practically nothing about it; but is this really the Rapture?”

“Yes, Nancy. I already told you that. Each second that you question what’s happening may be one second too long. Please, join me and my brothers and sisters in Christ. Let’s go to heaven together.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that,” Susan answered. You know John 3:16: ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.’ Put your name in place of whosoever. Ask Jesus to be your Savior but do it now.”

Nancy paused as she heard someone telling someone else the same thing just a few feet away. “I want to Susan, but how can I leave my husband and daughter?”

“You told me once, but I forgot,” Susan said. “How old is your daughter?”

“Six.”

“Then, she, too, will be going to heaven in a moment.”

“Oh, Susan, I want to believe you, but…”

“Don’t believe me,” Susan said sharply. “Believe God and believe what’s happening in front of you. Listen, what do you hear?”

“Only people talking,” Nancy said.

“Exactly … the trumpet stopped blowing over a minute ago. And apparently you didn’t hear the voice of the archangel. Please, Nancy, right now…”

Susan abruptly stopped talking. Nancy looked on in disbelief. She thought she felt a field of energy surround Susan. One thing was all too evident. Susan had changed inexpressibly. Her face beamed. Her body seemed almost to glow. Her features were recognizable but stunningly different—in a picture-perfect sort of way. Nancy never saw the transformation; it was much too fast.

Susan’s look was that of love and joy. “I’m so happy!”

“I can see why,” Nancy said as she choked back a tear. “You look heavenly.”

“Why didn’t you listen to me?”

Susan suddenly looked up again at the sound of a thunderous voice that gave a whole new meaning to majestic. So did Nancy and thousands of others around them still shocked at everything that was happening.

“Nancy, that was Jesus. He said, ‘Come up here!’”

“I couldn’t make out the words,” Nancy groaned.

Susan began to rise in the air as though by an invisible elevator, only slower. Still within earshot, she called out, “Bye Nancy. Remember, Jesus loves you. Turn to him, soon … very soon.”

Her voice melted into the sky, as did Susan herself.

Nancy watched spellbound but also with anguish as hundreds of people joined Susan in the air.

She fell to the ground and burst into tears.

ACT SIX

Sydney, Australia (2:10 AM)

The night was almost as bright as day.

Peggy scanned the faces of their neighbors, as did Jason. There were looks of bewilderment. But she could see terror engraved on most faces as the fourth Shofar shattered the sound waves.

“How is this possible?” Jason said. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say the whole world could hear it.”

“They can,” she said. “With God anything is possible.”

“How long is this is going to last?”

“I’m surprised it’s taken this long,” she replied.

“What’s next?” Jason asked, as though he acknowledged that she really did understand what was happening and why.

“I already told you. Jesus is going to take me and everyone who believes in him to our home in heaven. He promised he would 2,000 years ago. He is going to spare believers from the horrible tribulation to come.”

“Okay, but…”

“Stop it, Jason. There’s no time to argue or even discuss it. You’ve got to decide right now, right here. Do you want to go with me or not?”

“Of course, I want to be with you, but why can’t I go to heaven later, after I die? I still have my life to live.”

“Jason, even if you live through it, your life is going to be a living hell for the next seven years. And, if you keep saying no to Jesus; after that, hell itself. Please…”

The Shofar had stopped blowing a short time earlier, but Peggy still didn’t finish her sentence.

“What’s the matter?”

“Did you hear the voice?” she asked wide-eyed.

“What voice?”

“I’m sure it was one of God’s angels. He told us believers to get ready.”

“So, this is it?” Jason said … part sarcasm, part serious.

She quickly hugged him, kissed him, and stepped back. “Please, Jason, with all your heart just say ‘Yes,’ to Jesus right now.”

“I can’t… If this really happens, I’ll take my chance with the others. You told me once before there will be many more left behind than not.” He shifted his stance and partially turned his back to her. She sensed that he wanted to say more but couldn’t face her.

“I do love you, but I…” He turned around but he couldn’t finish the words. His jaw dropped. She was not the same woman, yet she was. Quantum light years different, but still Peggy.

“What … how … what happened to you?” he stammered.

“It’s the new me,” she squealed with delight.

“But I only turned around for a second or two.”

“I know,” she said. “Look at Stuart and his wife across the street. They, too, have been changed.”

Jason slumped to the ground on one knee. “This is a dream, and I’m going to wake up right now.”

At that moment, a resounding voice louder than the Shofar blasts rocked the atmosphere like a seismic sonic boom. Peggy saw Jason’s look of dismay as he abruptly stood up.

“Was that a voice? What did it say?”

“That was Jesus,” Peggy smiled radiantly. “He said, ‘Come up here.’”

“Can’t you stay with me,” he groaned.

She looked lovingly at him as she began her ascent. “I love you; but it’s going to be so hard for you. Promise me that you’ll choose Jesus over his imposter.”

She watched him watching her and six others from the neighborhood rising softly toward the sky. Then she looked up and raised both arms.

He heard her last words: “Thank you God. I love you Jesus!”

ACT SEVEN

Jason sat at the Fire Station’s lunchroom with his fellow firefighters. They were glued to the television and their smart phones. The entire world had done nothing else for the past three days.

A CNN anchorwoman was speaking: “We’re going to show you recent footage of a man dressed in a scarlet and purple robe being escorted by Italian military personnel from the beaches of Anzio, Italy. It’s reported that he will be flown by helicopter to Rome where government officials and a high-ranking Cardinal from the Vatican have agreed to meet with this man who claims to be the Roman Emperor Nero. If he really is Nero, then it appears we have an even greater miracle than three days ago.”

Things to Ponder

Though (it should be) apparent, to make sure that we separate the fictional from non-fictional facets of this play, I’ll provide the following observations:

Obviously, the three cities are real (four, counting Anzio; see Eye of Prophecy article: Antichrist and Anzio … What Do They Have in Common? posted 4-29-17), as are the respective time zones for each. The Messianic congregation in Netanya, Israel (coastal town north of Tel Aviv) is fictitious.

The created characters are not intended to depict any specific person; but they are or could be representative of anyone, anywhere.

The setting selection of the Jewish Passover and the precise time is in no way a statement or even suggestion that the Rapture will occur on that day or time. There are 24 hours in every day; 360 days on the Hebrew calendar and 365 on the Gregorian calendar. Three times Jesus said: “…For you do not know the day or hour of my return” (Matthew 25:13).

Whereas the exact words (voice of the archangel) as portrayed in the play are mostly speculative, not so with the commanding shout of Messiah Jesus … “Come Up Here!”

Just before John was transported to heaven to witness the Tribulation events, Jesus commands him to, “Come up here…” (Revelation 4:1).

After the two mighty witnesses are killed by the Antichrist and their bodies lie in the streets of Jerusalem, we view this stunning scene: “But after three and a half days, God breathed life into them, and they stood up! Terror struck all who were staring at them. 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” (Revelation 11:11-12).

Jesus’s command coupled with people everywhere on earth (in person, via internet or television) watching the two prophets (Moses and Elijah) ascending to heaven provides more than enough precedential authenticity for what will most likely happen during the Rapture. That and the fact that Jesus’s disciples (and probably others nearby) visibly saw Jesus ascending to heaven, slow enough for them to keep staring for a while (Acts 1:9-11).

Then we have Saul (later called the Apostle Paul) who saw the blinding light emanating from Jesus on the road to Damascus. His traveling companions were surrounded by the same light and they heard the “voice” but couldn’t see Jesus, nor (by obvious inference) determine what the voice said (Acts Chapter 9).

No one knows the incomparable intricacy and spectacular scope of just how the bodies of believers will be transfigured. Yet, we have an insightful idea and powerful preview from the Mount of Transfiguration experience of our Lord and Savior, Jesus; then his resurrection from the grave.

“…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).

“…For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies” (I Corinthians 15:44).

No one knows the precise time-lapse or exact details of how the Rapture will unfold. But the Bible does give us the foundational framework including the sequential component parts of what will happen.

“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).

If you haven’t please consider reading Eye of Prophecy article: The Shout Heard Around the World (Posted 4-22-17; strangely, two years ago this very weekend, with this weekend unusual because Passover and Good Friday/Resurrection Day overlap).

I’ll conclude with an excerpt from that post which, in turn, was a quote from the first article on this subject, How the Rapture (8-24-13). In italics:

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!

To believers in Jesus, the Apostle John wrote: