5. Taken

Often times the Spirit of God has placed intentionally [by design] into the Bible anti-types. Now, what is an anti-type? Webster’s 1828 Dictionary gives this:

“AN'TITYPE, n. Gr. against, and a type, or pattern.”

“A figure corresponding to another figure; that of which the type is the pattern or representation.”

It is now many years ago, when in the reading [studying] of the chronicle of a king of Judah [Josiah], that the Spirit of God showed me a type of a New Testament believer.

Josiah was living on the threshold of the time of the coming judgment of God. Look what the wife of Shallum (Huldah) the prophetess said. For this we will turn in our King James Bible of 1611 [or any one of its editions] to the book of Second Kings, chapter twenty-two, starting with verse fifteen: “And she said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read: Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched. But to the king of Judah which sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard; Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD. Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.” [2 Kings 22:15-20]

Do you not see how this Old Testament passage on Josiah sheds light on these New Testament passages in the epistle of First Thessalonians?

“And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.” [1 Thessalonians 1:10]

“For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,” [I Thessalonians 5:9]

Josiah is a type of a New Testament believer who is living on the threshold of the very time of the coming translation of the Church and judgment. God took Josiah out before the judgment came. God will take us out before the tribulation judgment comes.

If God in His mercy took Josiah out before the judgment came, then God will take us out before the Great Tribulation judgment begins.

Now, Josiah was chosen of God for special treatment. Someone “chosen” of God is one who is … very much loved by God [Deuteronomy 7:6-8]. God takes those who seek for Him.

It gets even better! Are you ready for this?

We have before us something that is prophetic in the Old Testament pointing to a future event.

This historic event, which is found in the book of Genesis, chapter five, is a precursor to something that will occur in our day. “And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” [Genesis 5:22-24]

Enoch represents a type of the body of Christ, “which is the church” [Colossians 1:24].

“By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” [Hebrews 11:5-6]

6. Changed

A stupendously serene hush slips into the scene all around the world. The birds stop their singing and the animals are lying low. All is very quiet. Something is about to happen. [Now, these are my thoughts contained within my imagination.]

The Spirit of God in the word of God calls for the last trump to sound in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter fifteen, verse fifty-one: “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” [1 Corinthians 15:51-53]

When we see Jesus Christ coming, “we shall see him as he is”, and when we shall “see him as he is”, “we shall be like him”. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” [1 John 3:2]

In similitude … we will be like Him. Mary [Mark 16:9], and the disciples [Mark 16:14] saw Him in his glorified body. They recognized him. We shall all likewise have glorified bodies. We shall all be like Him! Since as of yet none of living today has seen Him in the flesh, we will not know what we will be like … till it happens.

We shall all be changed … in a twinkling of an eye [instantaneously]. These mortal natural bodies of millions of us believers will in an instant of time be translated into incorruptible supernatural bodies. We shall be changed!

There will no more be limitations to our changed bodies. No more weaknesses, no more sicknesses, no more diseases and no more physical pain will ever be experienced once we receive these supernatural bodies.

Our new bodies will be fashioned like Jesus Christ’s body.

Our mortal bodies will be immortal. They will take on immortality.

Our rotten stinking sin-filled corruptible bodies will become incorruptible bodies that will know no sin. Amen!

The resultant will be thus: “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” [1 Corinthians 15:54] Amen!

Now, take in this scene, and believe the word of God that the Christians [Christ in you] will be “changed” into the same image as that of their Savior: “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” [2 Corinthians 3:18]

Next  7. In The Air