The Bible is Magical

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