And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. Acts 8:39
We have a Bible Study at Firethorn that started in the 1980s
and is still going. This last Friday we talked about what happened to Philip.
We were very realistically oriented to what made sense, so we believed that he
walked away and never came back. Later we noticed some other incidents which
made us believe Philip was lifted up and placed miles away.
2 Kings 2:16 says: The Spirit of the Lord hath taken him
(Elijah) up. My notes in my ICR Bible say Elijah was taken up in a fiery
tornado that seemed to surround a fiery horse-drawn chariot as he went up until
he was out of Elisha’s sight. It has been assumed that Elijah and Enoch have
both been supernaturally preserved alive in heaven ever since that time in
their natural bodies.
Ezekiel 3:12 says, Then the spirit took me up, and I
heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the
LORD from his place.
WOW! - Some people were taken up directly and were placed in
other cities or countries and some were never seen again on earth as they were
taken to heaven.
As we read these other verses, we realized these people were
lifted up in the air by God. It makes this 1 Thessalonians verse about the end
times more believable.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet 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. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
Another Bible says it this way: What we tell you now is
the Lord’s own message. We who are living when the Lord comes again will not go
before those who have already died. The Lord himself will come down from heaven
with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call
of God. And those who have died believing in Christ will rise first. After
that, we, who are still alive will be gathered up with them in the clouds to
meet the Lord in the air. And we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage
each other with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18
Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, thank you Lord, for the
magical happenings in your Bible. And thank you for telling us what will happen
to those of us who are alive and believe in Christ when Christ returns to
earth. Amen.
Sandra Hilsabeck
