The dead overcomers through all the generations will be resurrected and raptured to God and to His throne. Revelation 12:5 tells us that the man-child “was caught up to God and to His throne.” To be “caught up” is to be raptured. The rapture of the man-child differs from that of the majority of the believers as mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. There, the rapture of the majority of the believers will be to the air, whereas the rapture of the man-child, the dead overcomers resurrected, will be to the throne of God in the heavens.
The dead overcomers will be raptured to God and to His throne before the period of the great tribulation, that is, before the three and a half years, the twelve hundred sixty days. The rapture of the man-child is in Revelation 12:5. Verse 6 goes on to speak of “a thousand two hundred and sixty days,” and verse 14 of “time, and times, and half a time,” which denotes three and a half years. From this we see that the man-child, comprising the dead overcomers through all the generations, will be raptured before the great tribulation.
The living overcomers will be the firstfruit of God’s harvest on the earth (Rev. 14:4). God has a harvest on earth, and this harvest is growing in the field. The growth is taking place in the church life, which today is God’s farm (1 Cor. 3:9). Also, the church itself is the harvest. In this harvest some are growing faster and will ripen earlier. These will be the firstfruit at the time of the Lord’s coming.
Revelation 14:1 says, “I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on mount Zion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.” Verse 4b goes on to explain, “These were purchased from among men as firstfruit to God and to the Lamb.” The firstfruit to God and to the Lamb are those of God’s crop who mature the earliest. These early overcomers will be the first ripe ones in God’s field. Hence, they will be reaped before the harvest as firstfruit to God and to the Lamb. According to verses 14 through 16, the harvest will be reaped later. This means that the firstfruit will be raptured to the heavens before the harvest, just as the firstfruit of the good land was reaped and brought into the temple of God before the harvest. The crucial matter concerning the firstfruit is the principle that among the believers living on earth at the time of the Lord’s coming back, some will ripen early and, being the first to mature, will become the firstfruit in God’s field.
The living overcomers, the firstfruit of God’s harvest, will comprise only the New Testament overcomers who live until the Lord’s coming back. This is indicated by Matthew 24:39b-41, which says, “So also shall the coming of the Son of Man be. Then shall two men be in the field; one is taken, and one is left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left.” “To be taken” means to be raptured. The two men in verse 40 must be brothers in Christ, and the two women in verse 41 must be sisters in the Lord. This is indicated by verse 42, which tells us to watch because we do not know on what day the Lord comes. Both “watch therefore” and “your Lord” prove that the two men and the two women in these verses are believers. Of the two men in the field, one is taken and the other is left; and of the two women grinding at the mill, one is taken and the other is left. The reason for this is that there is a difference between them in the matter of life. I believe that the one taken is mature and that the one left is immature. The growth in life to maturity makes the difference.
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