The Rapture: The Gathering Of The Bride

Solomon gives to us some very wonderful and unique ideas concerning the bride of Christ. It is possible Solomon did not understand the full extent of what he is saying about the bride of Christ. In poetry, however, there are many levels of understanding.

The Song of Solomon is not the kind of book you can look at expositionally or even verse by verse. Hebrew verse is quite hard for us today to really grasp.

Although Solomon was writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he did not understand the full extent of what he was writing about. Many of the Old Testament writers in particular were in this category.

Coming to the end of this book it is profitable to look back and just see where Solomon is going with all of this. I am quite sure Solomon had no comprehension of what the “rapture” is, as we understand it today.

The love affair of the “Groom” with the “Bride” is a wonderful similarity to Christ and the Christian. If we can only can understand and grasp the full meaning here we would begin to appreciate our relationship to Christ in a different way.

To come to the subject of the rapture is a very important subject. I want to look at it not as some doctrine, but I want to look at it as it reflects the Groom and the Bride.

Many maintain misconceptions concerning the church, particularly in regard to prophecy and the second coming of Christ.

A key verse is 8:4, “I tell you, O daughters of Jerusalem. You must not wake up my love, until it is pleasing to her.”

This is similar to what Jesus taught.

Matthew 24:36 – “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”

Acts 1:7 – “And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”

Most Christians do not have proper understanding of what the rapture is all about.

Listen to how the apostle Paul explains it.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 – “16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:17 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.18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

The rapture is Christ gathering together his bride to bring home.

The “rapture” as we understand it, is simply a means by which Christ can gather together his bride, both those who were dead and those who were alive, and bring them into his heaven to spend eternity with him.

In order to understand this “rapture,” I need to break it down into several different categories.

I. Experiencing God’s Grace in the Wilderness.

When Moses brought Israel out of Egypt and into the wilderness, there were several levels.

The first level was separating Israel from the Egyptians. This was in the seven plagues of Egypt, which did not touch those of Israel who had separated themselves unto Jehovah.

The second level was crossing the Red Sea.

This set a couple effects for Israel.

First, the Red Sea became the border between Egypt and the wilderness where God wanted them. It was not something they could travel back and forth it was a one time experience to get them out of Egypt and put Egypt behind them.

Second, when the Egyptian army chased after Israel to bring them back they were destroyed in the Red Sea that was for Israel its salvation.

Israel survived the Red Sea while the Egyptian army was destroyed in it.

This brings Israel into the wilderness, of which I mentioned last week, that separates them from Egypt.

In the wilderness, Israel was learning the ways of God.

The wilderness did not provide for Israel. God sent the manna every morning for Israel’s nourishment.

Also, the wilderness did not take away from Israel; their shoes and their clothing never wore out. God was allowing Israel to experience his grace in this wilderness experience.

This is an illustration of what happens when we become a Christian.

We leave the old world behind us (Egypt) and cross the Red Sea, which absolutely separates us from what we were through the power of redemption. We now do not belong to Egypt, but rather are experiencing the grace of God in every aspect of our life.

That’s why when a person becomes a Christian they flounder because they are not connected to the world as they once were. There is a separation between them and the world and only God can satisfy, nourish and maintain our life.