THE HOPE OF ISRAEL - The Preterist Archive

The, Hope of Israel: What Is It? 195
least lessened thereby. For it is impossible to see,
in the light of this passage, how any segment of humanity,
Jew or Gentile, can be converted and blessed
after a first (or any other) stage of the Lord's coming.
Furthermore, to those who give attention to the
wording of the passage it will be evident that it relates
not to a later stage, but to the very earliest period
of the Lord's second coming. For all are agreed that
the first thing on the program of the events of "that
day," is the resurrection of "the dead in Christ" and
the catching away of all who are His (the living being
changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye) to
meet the Lord in the air. Such is the clear teaching
of I Corinthians 15:51, 52 and I Thessalonians 4:13-
17. And it is important (in view of the modern teaching
of a "secret rapture") to notice that both the above
cited passages make this to be a world-shaking event.
The first (I Cor. 15:51, 52) states that the instantaneous
change of all the people of God in the world
to the state of immortality, and the simultaneous raising
of the dead incorruptible, will be "at the last trump;
for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be
raised incorruptible, and vve shall be changed." And
the second passage puts it thus : "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; 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" (I Thess. 4:13-17).
All are agreed, we believe (and certainly it should
be evident to all who give consideration thereto) that
these two passages refer to the same coming events.