Someday very soon, there is going to be a world wide event that is so weird nobody will be able to explain it. God has prophesized a harpázō. Millions of people from all tribes and nations are going to disappear at exactly the same time. Here are the 2 most prophetic passages of this harpázō event.
But we don’t want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you don’t grieve like the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left to the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up [harpázō] together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 WEB)
Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can’t inherit the Kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this corruptible will have put on incorruption, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:50-57 WEB)
- In the twinkling of an eye … we will be changed (1 Corinthians 15:52-53) – From our birth in dying mortal bodies. Then in a Twinkling of an eye. A single click of God’s clock. We will be changed to be immortal with God forever
- 7 reasons Matthew 24 “one will be taken and one will be left” is not the rapture – 7 reasons from the parallel gospel accounts that Matthew 24 “one will be taken and one will be left” is not the rapture of Christians to heaven
Definition of harpázō
harpázō: to seize, catch up, snatch away
Original Word: ἁρπάζω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: harpázō
Phonetic Spelling: (har-pad’-zo)
Definition: to seize, catch up, snatch away
Usage: I seize, snatch, obtain by robbery.
– Strong’s Concordance
harpázōproperly, seize by force; snatch up, suddenly and decisively – like someone seizing bounty (spoil, a prize); to take by an open display of force (i.e. not covertly or secretly).
– Copyright © 1987, 2011 by Helps Ministries, Inc.
ἁρπάζω; future ἁρπάσω (Veitch, under the word; cf. Rutherford, New Phryn., p. 407); 1 aorist ἥρπασα; passive, 1 aorist ἡρπασθην; 2 aorist ἡρπαγην (2 Corinthians 12:2, 4; Wis. 4:11; cf. Winers Grammar, 83 (80); (Buttmann, 54 (47); WH’s Appendix, p. 170)); 2 future ἁρπαγήσομαι; ((Latinrapio; Curtius, § 331); from Homer down); to seize, carry off by force: τί (Matthew 12:29 not R G (see διαρπάζω)); John 10:12; to seize on, claim for oneself eagerly: τήν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, Matthew 11:12 (Xenophon, an. 6, 5, 18, etc.); to snatch out or away: τί, Matthew 13:19; τί ἐκ χειρός τίνος, John 10:28f; τινα ἐκ πυρός, proverbial, to rescue from the danger of destruction, Jude 1:23 (Amos 4:11; Zechariah 3:2); τινα, to seize and carry off speedily, John 6:15; Acts 23:10; used of divine power transferring a person marvellously and swiftly from one place to another, to snatch or catch away: Acts 8:39; passive, πρός τόν Θεόν, Revelation 12:5; followed by ἕως with the genitive of place, 2 Corinthians 12:2; εἰς τόν παράδεισον, 2 Corinthians 12:4; εἰς ἀέρα, 1 Thessalonians 4:17. (Compare: διαρπάζω, συναρπάζω.)
–Thayer’s Greek Lexicon
Why do we describe harpázō as rapture?
The Greek word harpázō was translated as rapiemur in the Latin Vulgate Bible. This was the only version that was available to Christians for more than a thousand years before the printing press allowed the Tyndale Bible to be widely distributed in the 16th century. Therefore, “rapture”, which is the Anglicized pronunciation of rapiemur, has become the standard term for this concept. (See The History of the Septuagint and the Vulgate)
Usage of harpázō in the New Testament
- Matthew 11:12 “and violent men take it by force.”
- Matthew 12:29 “goods of him to plunder if not”
- Matthew 13:19 “evil one and snaches away that which was sown”
- John 6:15 “to come and take Him by force to make”
- John 10:12 “and the wolf snatches them and scatters”
- John 10:28 “no one will snatch them out of My hand.”
- John 10:29 “no one is able to snatch [them] out of the Father’s”
- Acts 8:39 “of the Lord snatched Philip”
- Acts 23:10 “to go down and take him away from them by force”
- 2 Corinthians 12:2 “such a man was caught up to the third”
- 2 Corinthians 12:4 “was caught up into Paradise and heard”
- 1 Thessalonians 4:17 “and remain will be caught up together”
- Jude 1:23 “save others, snatching them out of the fire;”
- Revelation 12:5 “and her child was caught up to God”
Usage of harpázō in the Old Testament Septuagint (from The Apostolic Bible Polyglot App)
I believe it is important to consider Old Testament prophecy when studying New Testament concepts. But it is difficult to compare words from an English translation of the Hebrew language with words from an English translation of the Greek language. Fortunately, the Greek Jews translated the Hebrew Tanakh into the Greek Septuagint about 300 years before Christ. Now, modern tools, make it easier to compare and contrast the usage of the Greek word harpázō in the Greek Septuagint and the Greek New Testament.
- What Is the Septuagint? The Beginner’s Guide – The Septuagint is the oldest surviving Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, traditionally believed to have been written by 72 Jewish scholars sometime during the third century BC.
- What is the Septuagint? – Many of the New Testament quotes from the Hebrew Bible are taken from the Septuagint. This is the result of the fact that by the late first century BC, and especially the first century AD, the Septuagint had “replaced” the Hebrew Bible as the Scriptures most people used.
seize force ουχ αρπάσϵις 3756-726
- Leviticus 19:13 “you shall not seize by force … wages of your hierling”
- Judges 21:21 “let a man [of Benjamin] seize by force a wife from the daughters of Shiloh”
- Psalm 69:5 “then I paid for what I did not seize by force”
- Psalm 104:22 “lion cubs roaring to seize by force”
- Ezekiel 18:7 “a pledge owed he shall give back … he shall not seize by force”
- Ezekiel 19:3 “a lion … learned to seize by force; he ate the prey of men”
- Hosea 5:14 “as a lion to the house of Judah … I will seize by force”
- John 6:15 “Jesus then knowing they were about to come and seize him by force”
- John 10:28 “not shall any seize them for force from out of my hand”
- John 10:29 “no one is able to seize them by force from out of the hand of my father”
seize prey force αρπάση 726
- Micah 5:8 “a lion … draw apart to seize his prey by force”
seized ἡρπασϵ 726
- Genesis 37:33 “a wild beast seized Joseph”
- Joshua 8:23 “the land was seized by them”
- Judges 7:25 “they seized the two rules of Midian”
- Judges 8:14 “he seized a servant from the men of Succoth”
- Judges 15:4 “Samson went and seized three hundred foxes”
- 1 Samuel 15:8 “he seized Agag king of Amalek”
- 1 Kings 18:40 “Size the prophets of Baal”
- 2 Kings 4:27 “she seized his feet”
- 2 Kings 10:14 “Seize them alive!”
- 2 Kings 14:7 “seized Rock in the war”
- 2 Kings 14:13 “Judah seized Joash king of Israel”
- 2 Kings 16:9 “seized [Damascus] and resettled it”
- 2 Kings 17:6 “seized … Samaria, and resettled”
- 2 Kings 18:13 “Sennacherib … seized cities of Judah”
- 2 Kings 25:6 “they seized the king”
- Job 22:16 “the ones who were seized untimely are as a river overflowing”
- Joh 24:9 “They seized the orphan from the breast”
- Psalm 9:16 “this snare which they hid was seized”
- Psalm 9:17 “By the works of his hands is seized the sinner”
- Psalm 10:2 “seized by the deliberations which they argue”
- Psalm 59:13 “let them be seized in their pride”
- Proverbs 6:25 “not be seized by her eyelids”
- Ecclesiastes 7:26 “the one sinning will be seized with her”
- Isaiah 42:22 “there was not the one rescuing one seized”
- Jeremiah 6:11 “man and woman shall be seized”
- Jeremiah 26:8 “they sized him — the priests, and the false prophets”
- Jeremiah 34:3 “by seizure you shall be seized”
- Jeremiah 37:13 “he seized Jeremiah”
- Jeremiah 38:23 “by the hand of the king of Babylon you shall be seized”
- Jeremiah 39:5 “the force of the Chaldeans after them, and seized Zedekiah”
- Jeremiah 48:7 “Since you relied on your fortresses, and in your treasures, then you shall be seized”
- Jeremiah 48:33 “Cause for joy was seized, and gladness from Carmel”
- Jeremiah 48:41 “the fortresses were seized”
- Jeremiah 48:44 “shall be seized in the snare”
- Jeremiah 49:16 “it seized the strength of a high hill”
- Jeremiah 52:9 “they seized the king”
- Lamentations 4:20 “the anointed one Christ, the LORD was seized in our corruptions”
- Ezekiel 12:13 “I will spread forth my net upon him, and he shall be seized”
- Ezekiel 18:12 “tyrannized over the poor and need, and seized by force”
- Ezekiel 19:4 “he was seized in their corruption”
- Ezekiel 21:23 “he himself was calling to mind their iniquity to be seized”
- Amos 3:4 “if anything should not have been seized”
- Matthew 26:50 “they put hands upon Jesus, and seized him”
- Mark 6:17 “Herod, having sent, seized John, and bound him in the prison”
- Mark 14:46 “they put upon him their hands, and seized him”
- Mark 14:51 “the young men seized him”
- Luke 5:9 “stupefaction … over the catch of the fishes which they seized”
- Luke 22:54 “And having seized him, they led and brought him”
- John 18:12 “the officers of the Jews seized Jesus”
- Acts 6:12 “they seized him, and brought him to the Sanhedrin”
- Acts 23:27 “This man having been seized by the Jews”
- Acts 24:6 “whom also we seized, and according to our law we wanted to judge”
- Acts 26:21 “Because of these things, the Jews having seized me in the temple”
- 1 Thessalonians 4:17 “Thereupon we the living, the ones remaining together with them shall be seized in clouds for meeting the Lord in the air. And thus at all times with the Lord we shall be”
- Revelation 20:2 “And he seized the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil”
seized force ἡρπασϵν 726
- Leviticus 6:4 “he should give back the seized thing which he seized by force”
- Deuteronomy 28:31 “Your donkey being seized by force from you”
- 2 Samuel 23:21 “and seized by force the wooden spear”
- Job 20:19 “and a habitation he seized by force”
- Job 24:19 “they seized by force”
- Ezekiel 18:16 “collateral for security, and by seizure seized not by force”
- Ezekiel 18:18 “by seizure seized by force”
- Amos 1:11 “seized by force for a testimony of his shuddering awe”
- Nahum 2:12 “The lion seized by force the things fit for his cubs”
- Luke 8:29 “For many times it seized him with force”
- Acts 19:29 “having seized by force Gaius and Aristarchus”
- Acts 27:15 “And the boat being seized with force”
- 2 Corinthians 12:2 “being seized by force was such a one unto the third heaven”
- 2 Corinthians 12:4 “he was seized by force into paradise”
seized philip force ἡρπασϵ τον φίλιππον 726-3588-
- Acts 8:39 “spirit of the Lord seized Philip by force”
seizes force αρπάζϵι 726
- Matthew 13:19 “there comes the evil one, and he seizes by force the thing being sown”
- John 10:12 “And the wolf seizes them by force, and disperses the sheep”
seizing force αρπάζοντϵς 726
- Ezekiel 22:25 “roaring lions seizing by force prey”
- Micah 3:2 “seeking the wicked things, seizing by force their skins”
snatch away αρπάσαι 726
- Psalm 10:9 “a lion in his lair; he lies in wait to snatch away the poor”
- Psalm 10:9 “to snatch away the poor when he draws him”
- Psalm 50:23 “lest at any time he should snatch you away”
snatched away αρπάση 726
- Psalm 7:3 “Lest at any time my soul should be snatched away as by a lion”
- Hosea 6:1 “for he snatched us away, and he will heal us”
- Revelation 12:5 “And her child was snatched away to God, and to his throne”
snatching away αρπαζών 726
- Psalm 22:14 “as a lion snatching away and roaring
- Isaiah 10:2 “snatching away a judgment of the needy of my people”
For deeper study:
If you are not ready to be snatched away [harpázō] by almighty God to be with him in paradise forever, would you please take a moment to confess that you are a sinner who needs a savior and accept his sacrificial death to pay for the penalty of your sins and his victorious resurrection to free you from death forever. Then you can look forward to the rapiemur, harpázō. rapture with millions of other Christians.
Good work Brother.
We fly soon.