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:
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
A
special place in the clouds, in the air
Make no
mistake, we have an appointment with the Lord in the air, in the clouds! That said meeting will take place in what
scripture tells us is his pavilion, which is not in the third heaven (remember, he descended from there), but somewhere in the
sky above earth and below Heaven: somewhere in
the air.
2 Samuel 22:10, 12
…darkness was under his feet.
…he made darkness pavilions round
about him…and thick clouds of the skies.
Psalms 18:9, 11
…darkness was under
his feet.
…darkness his
secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of
the skies.
Did you catch
that? He made darkness his pavilion; those thick
clouds of the skies, darkness, were round about him, thick clouds of the
skies.
Psalm 27:5
~For in the time of trouble he
shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall
he hide me;
Psalm 97:2
~Clouds and darkness are
round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his
throne.
Lamentations 3:44a
~Thou hast covered thyself with
a cloud…
Scripture
talks about us being caught up to meet him in clouds, and we now know from the
scriptures, above, that where he is there is darkness round about him.
That darkness will hide the sun and what he is doing up there
with us.
The shout;
the voice; the sound of a trump: these are
all sounds believers will hear and be able to distinguish, at which time we are
gathered up, yea, snatched away, even caught up! But the rest
of the people on the earth will hear only “noise.” (Think about the
light Paul saw on the road to Damascus. He saw the light and it blinded
him (Acts 9:3, 9; 22:6, 11). The others with him were affrighted. (Acts 9:7; 22:9))
Exodus 19:16
~And it came to pass on the third
day in the morning, that there were thunders
and lightnings, and a thick cloud
upon the mount, and the voice of the
trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp
trembled.
Meeting
with the Lord
You may ask
what is going on inside that pavilion surrounded about by dark waters (Could these be the dark waters of “the
deep!?" (cf. Genesis 1:2; Job 38:30)) and
the thick clouds of the skies. What will go on inside that secret place
of his tabernacle, wherein dwells the light which no man
can approach.
2 Samuel 22: 10, 12
~He bowed the heavens also, and
came down; and darkness was under his feet.
~ And he made
darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, and thick
clouds of the skies.
1 Timothy 6:14, 16
~…until the appearing of our
Lord Jesus Christ…Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the
light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen,
nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen.
That
light, spoken of above, is the manifestation of his presence, his majesty, his
glory. Before we get to Glory (the third heaven), we will be in that
light, his glory, which 2 Samuel 22 calls his pavilion; underneath
it is darkness, but inside dwells the light which no man can approach.
After having been caught up, we will be in our glorious bodies, no more mere
mortals in earthsuits, but in suits (so to speak) fit to be in that light of His glory. However, if the earth
and the men on the earth were to see that light, it would scorch them. So
He hides it in His pavilion, in secret, clouded in darkness so no man can see
nor approach.
Pavilion
according to the dictionary
a temporary movable tent or
habitation.
1. Soc,
properly an enclosed place, also rendered "tabernacle,"
"covert" and "den;" once only "pavilion." ( Psalms
27:5 ) (Among the Egyptians
pavilions were built in a similar style to houses, though on a smaller scale in
various parts of the country, and in the foreign districts through which the
Egyptian armies passed, for the use of the king --Wilkinson .)
2. Succah,
Usually "tabernacle" and "booth."
3. Shaphrur and shaphrir,
a word used once only, in (Jeremiah 43:10)
to signify glory or splendor, and hence probably to be understood of the
splendid covering of the royal throne.
His
pavilion is a temporary dwelling place, like a tabernacle, a tent. But
where is his true dwelling place? The Earth! In time, he will get
here to rule and reign. Until then he has a temporary dwelling
place. He has made for himself a temporary dwelling place wherein he can
exhibit his glory and he has placed dark thick clouds round
about it to hide it. The earth will know something is going on, but for
them to look up it would scorch them; thus, he hides it from them.
1 Kings 8:10-12
~And it came to pass, when the
priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the
house of the Lord, So that the priests could not stand to minister
because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled
the house of the Lord. Then spake Solomon, The Lord said
that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
What’s
in the cloud?
The
glory of the Lord, God.
Exodus 19:9, 16; 20:21
~And the Lord said
unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud…
~And it came to pass on the third
day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick
cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding
loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.
~And the people stood afar off,
and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
(Hmm, the phrase third
day in the morning could be a whole study in itself to search out!)
The
Meeting’s Agenda
Meeting: a preplanned event, a predesigned meeting, an appointment.
This particular meeting is our
individual “day in court.” Yes, as some
say, it will be a great reunion, but there is business that needs be attended
to first—serious business.
2 Corinthians 5:10; Romans 14:12;
1 Corinthians 3:10-15
~For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his
body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
~So then every one of us shall
give account of himself to God.
~According to the grace of God
which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation,
and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth
thereupon.
For other foundation can no man
lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Now if any man build upon this
foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's
work of what sort it is.
If any man's work abide which
he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a
reward (cf. Colossians 3:4).
If any man's work shall be
burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
The very knowledge of that coming court appearance should cause the believer
to wake up and work out his salvation with fear and trembling so as to not be ashamed
on that day.
Romans 13:11a
~And that, knowing the time,
that now it is high time to awake out of
sleep…
1 Corinthians 15:34
~Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
Philippians
2:12
~Wherefore, my beloved, as ye
have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my
absence, work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling.
1 Thessalonians 5:5-8
Ye are all the children of
light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
For they that sleep sleep in
the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of
faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
Our
Presentation to the Father
Once
again, we are caught up together with them in the clouds, that great pavilion
that accompanies the Lord, to meet the Lord in the midst of the clouds where he
is. At that time, our bodies are changed from vile to glorious; bodies able to be in his
presence, his glory in that pavilion for our judgment. For those of the heirs of God that are shown to have served the Lord Christ on earth,
they shall be deemed joint heirs with
Christ, thus qualifying to receive the reward
of the inheritance. From there the Lord Jesus Christ will take us
to the Father for review.
Romans 8:17
~And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if
so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Colossians 3:24
~Knowing that of the Lord ye
shall receive the reward of the
inheritance: for ye serve the Lord
Christ.
1 Corinthians 4:5
~Therefore judge nothing before the
time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of
darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then
shall every man have praise of
God.
2 Thessalonians 3:13
~To the end he may stablish
your hearts unblameable in holiness before
God, even our Father, at the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
Being
with the Lord
~…and so shall we ever be with the
Lord.
After the catching away, after our
meeting at the judgment seat of Christ, and after our presentation to the
Father, the Lord Jesus Christ leaves us to finish out the
prophetic program while we remain eternal in the heavenlies. Even so, we shall be
with the Lord!
2 Corinthians 5:1
~For we know that if our
earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
Philippians 3:20
~For our conversation
is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ:
While
scripture tells us we will be with the
Lord, it’s important to note and consider that ‘being with the Lord’ is not
referring to our proximity with him, rather being of like
mind…but much more than that! We are one with the Lord Jesus
Christ, he is our Head, and we are his body.
While we
will be in our resurrected, glorified bodies, functioning as who we are, sons
of God, we are going to ‘be with him’
because we are a part of him. We, as blood-bought, redeemed children
of God are liberated from our bondage
of corruption (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52).
We will be able to move and function in complete and perfect harmonious
union with our Head, the Lord Jesus Christ. We will be moving and functioning
in complete and perfect harmonious union with our Head, the Lord Jesus Christ—just
like our physical bodies here and now move in connection with how we think to
accomplish a task. For him to think, will for us to do,
to understand, to know exactly what our worship
and service is to him throughout eternity.
We are now
a new
creature in Christ, and then will be taking our assigned
place in “the creature.” (You know about “the
creature,” yes?) That
one who was made subject to vanity, not willingly but
currently, in this dispensation of the grace of God, waits in hope for
the sons of God to be revealed when it also shall be delivered
from the bondage of corruption [just
as we were at the catching away!]
into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Romans 8:19-21
~ For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth
for the manifestation of the sons of God.
For the creature was
made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath
subjected the same in hope,
Because the creature itself also
shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
What a
day that will be!!
To God be the glory!
~And now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds…
Job 37:21.
___________________
Upon listening to an online
message, I expanded the study and researched further into what are ‘the clouds
in the air’ of 1 Thessalonians 4:17. As
always, it is a delight to get in his word and search out the depths of the riches of the wisdom and
knowledge of God.
~If thou seekest her as silver,
and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord,
and find the knowledge of God.
Proverbs 2:4-5
All scripture from the King James Bible, emphasis mine.
