Secrets from Beyond The Grave

This "cloud of witnesses" consists of the many saints from the Old Testament listed in Hebrews chapter 11, such as Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, and others. These witnesses are a "cloud" of people who have finished their race and are observing us as we are running our own race to win the prize. It is possible that when Christ ascended to heaven to take His seat at the right hand of the Father (Heb. 12:2), He was joined with a great cloud of saints whom He had brought forth from under the earth when He came out of the tomb. Whatever and whenever these saints went to their permanent eternal home, paradise was moved from Abraham's bosom under the earth to the third heaven. Now when the righteous pass away, their souls and spirits are separated from their bodies by angels of the Lord, and they are carried instantly to paradise. The "Harpazo" Effect Paul said he was "caught up" into the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2). This phrase caught up is the Greek word harpazo and alludes to being seized or plucked up by force. It is the same word found in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, where Paul reveals the "removing" of the church to heaven and says that the living believers will be "caught up" in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. This event will occur suddenly, and we will be changed from mortal to immortal "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" (1Cor. 15:52). When Christ returns, the living saints are changed from mortal to immortal and instantly caught up to heaven to appear before the throne of God in a moment of time. In like manner, when a believer dies, that person's soul and spirit can be transported from the earthly realm to the heavenly realm in a fraction of a second of time. I am uncertain if all of the Old Testament saints were raised when Christ came forth out of the grave, or if there are some who were taken to the heavenly paradise and others who must be raised at the Rapture of the church. We are informed, however, that at the next resurrection, the "dead in Christ shall rise first," then the living will follow them (1 Thess. 4:16-17). Because of those who are identified with the phrase "the dead in Christ," this would allude to all who died from the time of Christ's resurrection to the time of the gathering together of the church. This would imply that the next resurrection would be for those who have died under the new covenant and not under the old covenant. If the next resurrection is for those "in Christ," then the Old Testament saints have all been removed from Abraham's bosom and have already been taken into heaven, and we will meet them there when we arrive. The important point is that we know what happens to believers at their departure. Death for a believer is not finality or the end of the road. It is only the beginning of a wonderful journey that will never end.