The Thunder Heard 'Round The World

The Thunder Heard 'Round The World - By Daniel Payne - https://www.raptureready.com/2020/06/18/the-thunder-heard-round-the-world-by-daniel-payne/

 

A recent article posted by a brother here on R.R. got me thinking: what exactly will the rest of the world hear the moment that the true remnant church is snatched from the face of the earth?

 

The Rapture will, of course, involve the entire surface of the planet. The Rapture will likely be a physical, as well as a spiritual event. God's Word says that, at the Rapture, believers will be given their physical bodies, equipped for life in eternity with the Lord:

 

"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 shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality" (Corinthians 15:52-53).

 

From living believers positioned at various locations above ground, and the earthly bodies of those returning with Jesus buried at various locations underground and underwater, it's possible a type of nuclear fission/fusion will shake nearly every molecule in every location on earth.

 

According to the Duke Energy Nuclear Information Center, fission is the splitting of a heavy, unstable nucleus into two lighter nuclei, and fusion is the process where two light nuclei combine together, releasing vast amounts of energy.

 

Not only will a widespread physical event take place at the Rapture, but the voice of the Lord will also ring out.

 

Incidentally, the trumpet that will sound at the Rapture will be the last trumpet blown for the true remnant church. More trumpet blasts will be heard by the rest of the world in the days following the Rapture.

 

Along with the sound of a trumpet at the Rapture, there will also be the sound of the Lord's voice. Speaking of the Lord's voice, this is what those who were with Jesus heard when the Father spoke to Him from heaven:

 

"'Father, glorify Your name.' Then a voice came out of heaven: 'I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.' So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, 'An angel has spoken to Him'" (John 12:28-29).

 

Some people in the crowd understood that a voice spoke from heaven, yet others who were there only heard thunder. A similar situation occurred when the Lord spoke from heaven to Paul, prior to his conversion:

 

"And he said, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.' The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one" (Acts 9:5-7).

 

Some of those with Saul understood that they heard a voice from heaven, yet apparently there were others present who did not understand:

 

"And I answered, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said to me, 'I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.' And those who were with me saw the light, to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me" (Acts 22:8-9).

 

Could it be that those who were with Paul when the Lord spoke to him from heaven, and did not understand His voice, also heard thunder like those without understanding who were with Jesus? Maybe.

 

According to various examples in the Word of God, the voice of God resembles the sound of thunder. The voice of an angel can also sound like thunder. Even when what the Lord speaks is understood, those who hear His voice still describe it as sounding like thunder:

 

Job 37:4-5a, "After it a voice roars; He thunders with His majestic voice, And He does not restrain them when His voice is heard. God thunders marvelously with His voice."

 

Psalm 18:13, "The LORD thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire."

 

Ezekiel 3:12-13, "Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a great thunderous voice: 'Blessed is the glory of the LORD from His place!' I also heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, and a great thunderous noise."

 

Revelation 6:1, "Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, 'Come and see.'"

 

Job 40:9, "Have you an arm like God? Or can you thunder with a voice like His?"

 

Psalm 77:18, "The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lit up the world; The earth trembled and shook."

 

Psalm 104:7, "At Your rebuke they fled; At the voice of Your thunder they hastened away."

 

Revelation 14:2, "And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps."

 

Revelation 19:6, "And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, 'Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!'"

 

Since obviously no one who is left behind will have the discernment of the Holy Spirit to allow understanding of the Lord's shout from heaven, it stands to reason that the only sound they will hear is thunder.

 

The Rapture will very likely be a thunderous noise the likes of which the world's ears have never heard. If a sonic boom is loud, the hypersonic boom of Jesus arriving from heaven will be much louder.

 

Another interesting point as recorded in Acts, is that when the Lord Jesus spoke to Paul from heaven, a very bright light flashed all around Paul, like lightning.

 

"But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me" (Acts 22:6).

 

One can only imagine the combination of the nuclear physics of the event of the Rapture along with the thunder of God's voice, hypersonic booms, and a very bright flash of light. Planet Earth will indeed be shaken!

 

Amen! Even so, come, Lord Jesus.