Iceweasel
Diamond Member
It''s in the Bible so it's true...it's true because it's in the Bible....blah blah blah. Is that the best you can do?I found it. Nicodemus was the creme de la creme of the Pharisees. The only person the Jews set above him was the High Priest. He didn't understand the things Jesus said, so he would sneak out of the Temple at night to question Christ. He ended up a believer. Here's what he and some others wrote down pertaining to the event of Christ's return.
Here is my earlier post:
When Christ died, He didn't ascend, He descended.
Matthew 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whales belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Christ was never buried in the earth, and He wasn't sleeping but conscious and proclaiming to those also in the heart of the earth, who He was.
Remember Christ telling the thief that he would be in Paradise? When Christ died He went to Abraham's bosom, also called Paradise, where the souls of those who followed God waited for Christ to break through the barrier of death. Abraham's bosom has also been translated as Abraham's side, because on the other side, separated by a deep chasm, were those souls that had relied on their sun god, or themselves, and did not believe or heed the prophets God had sent them.
Luke 16:19-31
As beloved as they were, and as well kept as God kept them until Christ's arrival, no one goes to the Father except through Christ. So they had to wait. Once Christ took possession of the keys to the gate of death, there is no need to wait. We go straight up.
And in the coming rapture, rising along with the living in Christ, those souls having died after Christ, will reunite with their bodies at the same time, because we are coming back from Heaven with Christ when He returns for good.
LOL.The trip, according to the Bible, happens in a twinkling of the eye, < the Biblical time used to describe the coming rapture. That is not a blink, it's the time it takes light to reach the back of our eye. Scientists measured it at 11/100th of a sec.
Christ proclaimed who He was to those on the other side. But, He did not empty out Hades. Only those in Abraham's arms came back with Him. Not all graves opened when Christ died, just those who were going to need their bodies back. They all stayed here, (about 12,000 men + the women and children that the Jews didn't count) on earth for forty days, and they all ascended with Christ, to Heaven.
Matthew 27:52-53 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
Christ led the resurrection and the ascension. Like a train. They were two separate events.
Eph.4:7-9
Here are some accounts of the two events from antiquity manuscripts outside of the Bible:
Clement of Alexandria:
The fragments of the lost writings of Irenaeus speak of the Resurrection:
Repeating what you heard makes it true. Oh boy." This event was also an indication of the fact that when the Holy body of Christ descended into Hades, many souls ascended,
<(from Hades to Jerusalem, not to Heaven yet) and were seen in their bodies the heavy and terrestrial part, having been rendered immortal, was borne up to Heaven, after the resurrection." <(the ascension to Heaven)
Golly, the old scare tactic. Who saw that coming?Of all the antiquity accounts in the Ante-Nicene Library, The Latin version of Nicodemus is the most
complete. In a Jewish court of Law, a fact is established by 2 or more eye witnesses.
Here are 3:
A Latin account means it was a much later work. If you were correct, why don't the Jews believe you? Another problem.Then Rabbi Addas and Rabbi Finees, and Rabbi Egias, the three men who had come from Galilee, testifying that they had seen Jesus taken up into heaven, rose up in the midst of the multitude of the chiefs of the Jews, and said before the priests and the Levites, who had been called together to the council of the Lord:
"When we were coming from Galilee we met at the Jordan a very great multitude of men, fathers who had been some time dead"...And they went, and walked around all the region of the Jordan and of the mountains, and they were coming back without finding them. And, behold, suddenly there appeared coming down from Mount Amalech a very great number, as it were, twelve thousand men, who had risen with the Lord. And though they recognized very many there, they were not able to say anything to them for fear and the angelic vision; and they stood at a distance gazing and hearing them, how they walked along singing praises, and saying; "The Lord has risen again from the dead, as He has said; let us all exult and be glad, since He reins for ever."
Then those who had been sent were astonished and fell to the ground for fear, and received the answer from them, that they should see Karinus and Leucius in their own houses. And they rose up and went to their houses, and found them spending their time in prayer.
Karinus, and Leucius were the sons of Simeon, also seen alive during the event. They were known by the Sanhedrin because of their Temple service. They had been priests in the Temple, prior to their death. They were interrogated separately and simultaneously.
Here are the facts of their testimony:
"Christ appeared to us in Hades, preached to all, and that those who had earlier responded to God were miraculously given new bodies, and resurrected when Christ rose from the grave."
Those who chose not to heed the prophets, are still there. And it gets more crowded every day. The earth will give them up after the 1,000 year reign of Christ. They will be judged at the White Throne Judgement. The resurrection of the dead.
And for those who have decided to wait till the last minute to say your prayers, when the rapture takes place you will have 10/100 of a second to get right with your Father. If you miss the next train, you'll be here for the most devastating time in earth's history.