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Find the answers to all those questions you were too embarrassed to ask in Sunday School. Welcome to Weird Stuff in the Bible, where we explore scripture passages that are bizarre, perplexing or just plain weird. Hosted by Luke Taylor.
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Enoch’s First Rapture: Destigmatizing this Weird Doctrine
Genesis 5 & Enoch 12
Introduction
Enoch is one of the most mysterious characters in the Bible. He appears in Genesis 5 for about 10 seconds, at which point we’re told that he basically disappeared. He was there one minute, gone the next. Like my wife when the pastor tells us to turn and greet the person next to us. Just “poof,” gone.
And I’ve spoken about this on the podcast before. Not my wife being an introvert, but about Enoch’s sudden evacuation from this planet.
Genesis 5:24
Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
He was not? Right. He was not. He was, and then he wasn’t. Poof.
I have often called this the first rapture in the Bible. And that word comes with a lot of theological baggage. By even bringing up the idea, I have probably already upset some people today. It bothers some Christians because most associate that word with the concept of the rapture of the church.
We’ll talk about that today, because what I’d like to do is de-stigmatize this touchy subject. If you don’t like the concept of a rapture of the church, or if you reject something that’s often called the pre-tribulation rapture, I’m not even gonna try to convince you to believe it today.
This is not an issue in which I’d break fellowship with other Christians over. I’m not trying to be divisive today; I’m trying to be the opposite. I’d like to show, especially for those who reject quote-unquote “rapture theology” that the concept of the rapture is actually pretty common in Scripture.
The reason this is coming up today is because we’re in a study of the Book of Enoch, and we’re going to find out that the first rapture we read about in Scripture was perhaps not the first rapture that ever took place.
But we’ll get to that later. First, the Bible stuff, because a lot of people find the doctrine of the rapture to be weird, and I’d like us to explore everywhere we can find it in the Bible.
Turn to II Kings 2, and let’s get weird.
[theme music]
All the Raptures in the Bible
Welcome to Weird Stuff in the Bible, where we explore scripture passages that are bizarre, perplexing or just plain weird. This is Luke Taylor, and today we’re going to try to de-stigmatize the rapture.
To de-stigmatize something means to remove the stigma. A stigma means to have a fear or aversion. When you make something unpopular, it’s called stigmatizing it. For example, I would like to stigmatize church greeting times, as I’m kind of an introvert, too. Probably too much for my own good. I might not disappear through the ceiling like my wife, but I find myself needing a bathroom break if the meet-and-greet time goes on longer than five minutes.
To de-stimatize something means to normalize it. And I’d like everyone to see today how normal this idea actually is in the Bible of taking a trip to heaven or the spirit realm.
Because taking a trip to heaven sounds quite radical. Whether it’s a permanent move, an overnight stay, or just a three-hour tour, that sounds pretty out-there. And yet, this kind of thing seems to come up regularly in the Bible.
We covered Enoch’s rapture in the intro, by the way. Enoch was, and then he wasn’t. I was thinking this week, it’s debatable whether Enoch went to heaven or to Abraham’s Bosom when he was raptured. I guess we don’t 100% know. But that was Genesis 5.
The next rapture that comes up in Scripture is Elijah. This comes up in II Kings 2. Elijah and his protege, Elisha, are walking by the Jordan. By the way, what’s up with that? His name’s EliJAH and he picks a Padawan named EliSHA. IDK about you all, but I’ve always found that unnecessarily confusing. Like, my name is Luke; if the guy I want to hire to follow me around the next three years is named Lucas, I’m changing his name to Sam. Or Frodo. Or Larry-Boy. But in II Kings, it’s not that simple. We have Elijah and Elisha.
II Kings 2:11-12
11 And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 12 And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more.
Elijah was taken to heaven; this is the second rapture of the Bible. And I don’t know if Enoch had a chariot, too. I don’t know if it was a chariot that looked like what we think of as a chariot, or if this looked more like what we might call a spaceship. As we go through, I think you’ll see that every rapture in the Bible is unique.
So the definition is- and we’ll get more into the Greek side of things later- but the basic definition of a rapture as a theological concept is to go to heaven without experiencing death.
The third rapture is, believe it or not, Jesus. Yes, Jesus was raptured. It takes place at the end of some of the gospels, as well as in
Acts 1:9
And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
Jesus’ ascended into heaven. No fiery chariot this time. He just went up. Not instantaneous like how I Thessalonians 4 or I Corinthians 15 describe the rapture of the church. I just imagine He kind of floated up.
Now, I’ve been mocked before for calling this a rapture, because people will say that the ascension of Christ was just that: an ascension. Not a rapture.
However, in the Greek, Revelation 12:5 refers to this event, and it uses the Greek word for rapture. And that word is “Harpazo.” So let me talk about this word for just a minute.
Harpazo
The doctrine of the rapture is often denied because people will say “the word rapture does not even appear in the Bible.” And if that’s part of your argument against the rapture, it is really good you tuned in today because I’m going to help you refine your arguments. That’s a very weak counter-argument to the rapture, and it’s actually wrong when you look at the original Greek.
The word for “rapture” in the Greek is harpazo. It means to be seized or snatched or caught up. The idea is that you are being taken. In the Bible’s Latin translation in the Fourth Century, the word harpazo was translated into rapiemur, which is the plural possessive of the Latin verb rapio; another form of this word is raptus. When it was translated into English, it was translated as “caught up,” but it means the exact same thing as what the word rapture means.
In an English dictionary, the word “rapture” means "the carrying of a person to another place or sphere of existence.” If you were captivated or carried away with something, you might say you were enraptured by it. I can say I was enraptured by George Lucas as a child when I watched Star Wars episode 5, the Empire Strikes Back. And episode 4. (Militant) And 6. And the other 3. I was carried away, like I was entering another world. And I still am. Probably a little bit too much. Kinda weird now that I’m 36. And I’m planning to grow out of it by the time I’m 40 but I’m not 40 yet. That’s what it means to be raptured. Carried away. Like how I get a little carried away when I start talking about Star Wars. Harpazo is simply translated “caught up” in our English Bibles.
Now, just because the letters r-a-p-t-u-r-e don’t appear in our English bibles, the concept is obviously there. Just like T-R-I-N-I-T-Y doesn’t appear in the Bible, but the concept is there. The phrase “Second Coming of Christ” doesn’t appear in the Bible, but the concept is there. We don’t have to sit and argue about whether those doctrines are biblical just because those words don’t appear in the Bible. Cool? Cool.
So the rapture- the idea of someone going to heaven without experiencing death- is clearly a biblical concept- regardless of whether the word actually appears there. Furthermore, the word IS there in the Greek. It’s harpazo. H-a-r-p-a-z-o. Some people spell it with a d in front of the z, because that’s how it’s supposed to be pronounced. Har-PaD-Zo.
And back to Jesus- He was said to have been Harpazo’d out of this world and up to His Father’s throne in Revelation 12:5. You can check it for yourself if you want.
Other Raptures in the Bible
And, of course, the fourth rapture is the rapture of the church, a future prophetic event.
I Thessalonians 4:16-17
16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up [HARPAZO] together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
Now, personally, I believe that this event makes the most sense to place it just before the beginning of the 7-year tribulation described in Revelation and other places that culminates in the return of Christ. Others place this at the end of the 7-year tribulation and say that this happens at the exact same time as the Second Coming. Some place it halfway through or take what is called a “pre-wrath” perspective.
Some don’t believe in the tribulation period at all. They might have entirely different eschatological systems. That’s fine. I’m not trying to get you to adopt mine. Here’s what I’d say, though: can we at least agree that the rapture of the church is going to happen? Whether you say it happens at the moment of the Second Coming or not, even if you don’t see it happening like I do, can we stop saying the idea isn’t biblical at all? I just think that sounds really ignorant when I Thessalonians 4 is still in the Bible.
Not trying to hurt any feelings. Not trying to convince you to read the whole Left Behind series. Just trying to make the point that we need to stop saying that the rapture isn’t biblical. The concept is there. It happens with people repeatedly in the Bible. And at some point, the church will receive it. There will someday be a generation of believers that don’t experience death. That’s not escapism; that’s what it literally means when it says “the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be [HARPAZO’d] together with them in the clouds.”
This kind of thing happens in other places in Scripture, too. Before anyone asks, I’m skipping Philip in Acts 8 because he didn’t technically go to heaven. Let’s talk about Paul in II Corinthians 12. I did a couple of episodes on this last fall. Paul said in
Verses 2-4
2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up [harpazo, raptured] to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.
Now, Paul was actually speaking of himself in these words. I know that isn’t apparent when you first hear it, but I explain in episodes 91 and 92 why Paul was speaking in code during this moment.
The point is, Paul was raptured. A temporary visit to heaven. He saw some things he couldn’t talk about when he came back. But there was another guy who visited heaven and DID see some things he could talk about.
John in Revelation 4. It says this in
Verse 1 of that chapter
After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”
And from there, John goes up to visit the literal throne room of God. And not only that- John is given a glimpse of the future.
Now, the word harpazo doesn’t appear in this verse; but the concept is there. John went to heaven, without dying- and like Paul, he came back. It said a door opened up in heaven. What could that mean? Did John see a literal wooden door with a doorknob you can turn? Possibly, but I doubt it.
This word “door” there is the Greek word Thura (thoo-ruh), and according to the Greek dictionary, it can be “used of any opening like a door, an entrance, way or passage into.” So I hear this and I think: portal. Which is actually what the word “portal” used to mean. I know nowadays we’ve all seen too many science fiction movies so we think of something like Dr. Strange when we hear the word “portal.” But the word literally just means any kind of opening.
In fact, the word “door” can also be translated “gate” in the New Testament, such as in Acts 3:2. And “gate” is a word for spiritual portals, as we’ve studied before on the podcast. So in fact, if you thought of a Dr.-Strange-style portal right here, I think you’re right on.
But it wasn’t a permanent stay. This is more of a three-hour-tour rapture, and then John is marooned back on his island like an episode of Gilligan’s Island. I hope he was an introvert like me because then he probably didn’t mind all that much.
One more rapture we could point out is the two witnesses of Revelation 11, who are killed during the tribulation and then resurrected and raptured before the view of the whole world. For the sake of time, I won’t read that one today, but you can track it down if you want.
Enoch 12 and the First Rapture
I hope I have demonstrated today: the idea of being caught away into the heavenly realm is 100% biblical. The word for this is being “caught up” or “raptured.” If you don’t like the word rapture for some reason, call it the harpazo if you want. But I’m hoping I de-stigmatized that word a bit today.
If you’re listening today and you’re still an anti-rapture person, I hope I’ve helped you to refine some of your arguments against this doctrine. And most of all, I hope I’ve showed you that the idea of a rapture really isn’t all that radical. We don’t have to start calling each other heretics or false teachers because we place this event at a different place on the timeline.
The big reason I wanted to explore this subject today is because Enoch experiences a rapture in the twelfth chapter of his book. So in our book of Enoch study, that’s what we’re going to read about next.
Chapter 12 of the book of Enoch is pretty short. I’ll read through it. For context: so far in this book, we’ve read about how the Watchers or Sons of God came down and created the giants. They also introduced a lot of other sins to humanity. The angels cried out to God: Lord, how long are you going to let all this go on? And God responds that all these sins are going to be dealt with, the world will be destroyed- which would be the flood that later came- and these fallen angels would be tied up and thrown into the underworld. So that’s what’s coming later.
But in this next section of the book, Enoch is going to pay them a visit and have a conversation with them about what they did. This will be very interesting and what’s ahead is what I think will actually be the most practical section of the book. But today is just more of a set-up for that.
So Enoch 12 says, Before these things Enoch was hidden, and no one of the children of men knew where he was hidden, and where he abode, and what had become of him.
Oh man, Enoch sounds like more of an introvert than me or my wife are. We’d probably get along really good with him. By which I mean, we’d leave each other alone really well.
Now, when it says Enoch was “hidden,” a better translation of that would be “taken.” The translator, RH Charles, rendered this as “hidden,” but the original Ethiopian Greek language this came from should say Enoch was “taken.” This is what I call the first rapture of Enoch. He is taken on a trip to heaven.
Enoch 12 continues: 2. And his activities had to do with the Watchers, and his days were with the holy ones. 3. And I, Enoch was blessing the Lord of majesty and the King of the ages, and lo! the Watchers called me--Enoch the scribe--and said to me:
So Enoch is called to be a “scribe” here, a note-taker. He is to write down a message from God to the Watchers who are imprisoned in the earth. What will happen is that he’ll end up passing messages back and forth, but we’ll get to that later. God tells Enoch here to go speak a message of condemnation to the Watchers who are bound in the earth.
4. 'Enoch, thou scribe of righteousness, go, declare to the Watchers of the heaven who have left the high heaven, the holy eternal place, and have defiled themselves with women, and have done as the children of earth do, and have taken unto themselves wives: "Ye have wrought great destruction on the earth: 5. And ye shall have no peace nor forgiveness of sin: and inasmuch as they delight themselves in their children, 6. The murder of their beloved ones shall they see, and over the destruction of their children shall they lament, and shall make supplication unto eternity, but mercy and peace shall ye not attain."'
They’re gonna beg and plead for mercy, that their punishment is too much or unfair, but it won’t change their circumstances.
Some think perhaps Enoch’s rapture in Genesis 5 WAS the story being talked about here in Enoch 12. But that would be wrong. Hebrews 11 refutes that idea.
Hebrews 11:5 says
By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.
Enoch’s rapture in Genesis 5 was the last time Enoch walked on this earth. He didn’t die.
But the rapture we’re reading about here in Enoch here is just a short-term mission trip into the spirit realm. Just like Paul in I Corinthians 12. He was in the spirit like John in Revelation 4. But he came back to write this down for us.
So Genesis 5 depicts the Bible’s first rapture. But Enoch 12 gives us Enoch’s first rapture. Yes, it’s extra-biblical. But I hope I demonstrated today, there is biblical precedent for what we’re reading. It’s weird, but it’s not irregular.
Next Time
And we’ll look into more about what he saw next time. We’re going to get into Enoch 13 and Ephesians 6 with an extremely practical lesson about spiritual warfare. As we’ve gone forward in the podcast, we’ve learned more and more about the different types of spiritual beings you can find. But next week we’ll discuss: what should we do about them?
Make sure you’re subscribed so you can get it!
And I do have some closing thoughts, but first- Here’s the mail that never fails, it makes me want to wag my tail!- I want to do a quick mailbag. It won’t really be quick… It’s been a few weeks, and some comments and questions have come in.
By the way, shout out to Joe, to Greg, to Chris, to Daniel, to Silvia, to Allen, to Mat, to Garret, To Keenan, to Alex, as well as Ethan in Grants Pass, Oregon- an official SUPER WEIRDO, as he said he’s listened to every episode of the show. And just found it within the past couple months, so that’s a LOT of weird in a short time. I hope you’re OK, Ethan. I dub anyone a official weirdo if you listen to 25 or more episodes of this show.
Also shoutout to Karen from Cloquet, Minnesota, which I’m assuming rhymes with “croquet” but I may be saying it totally wrong. Maybe it’s clockit. She sent me a couple of really funny emails this week, and we talked about how Nephilim can actually be a pretty effective apologetics tool. Guys, there are a number of people out there who are skeptical about the Bible but quite willing to discuss things like giants. So this podcast can help equip you for those conversations with non-believers. Don’t be afraid to get weird. I probably shouldn’t say that.
And just before I started recording, I received this email from Pam, who said, “I've used weird stuff in the Bible to start conversations with ppl to open a chance to testify to them.” Thank you Pam. Again, we probably don’t need to shy away from these strange things in Scripture.
Alright. I had this question from Gage; he’s asking about my use of the term Sons of God. He writes:
I have a question regarding the watchers being named the “sons of God”.
John 3:16 states otherwise, that He only had one son, and that was Jesus, so I’m curious as to how you got the conclusion that the watchers were sons of God, therefore going against what the scriptures say?
Also, please don’t take this comment as argumentative I’m just genuinely curious, thanks so much!
Gage, I’m so glad you asked because I am READY for this question. How do we know that the Watchers are the same beings as the Sons of God in Genesis 6:1-4? I want to deal with this part of Gage’s question first: what even is a Son of God? I thought Jesus was the only Son of God?
John 3:16 says
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
And when it says “his only Son,” that word in the Greek is Monogenes (mon-og-gen-knees) which means “single of its kind.” This is often rendered as “only begotten” in some translations. So how can there be other beings who are called Sons of God if Jesus is said to be God’s only son?
Well this word monogenes or “only begotten” refers to Jesus being unique in His nature and status. That He is the second member of the trinity, and the fact that Jesus is God incarnate in the world.
However, it’s undeniable that the words “son” or “sons” of God are used of other beings throughout Scripture. Genesis 6:1-4 has these beings called the Sons of God. Adam is called the Son of God in Genesis 3:38. All Christians are called sons of God in Romans 8:14. And all of Israel is called God’s son in the book of Hosea.
So the fact that Jesus is called God’s only begotten Son can mean a lot of things, but it certainly can’t mean He’s the only being in the entire universe who can be called a Son of God. Also note this: in Hebrews 11:17, Isaac is called the only begotten son of Abraham. Same Greek word: monogenes. However, Bible students will know that Isaac was NOT Abraham’s only son. He had another son named Ishmael. But the writer of Hebrews was making the point that Isaac was the child of the promise whom the Messiah would come through. So monogenes must mean something different from how it sounds to us when it’s translated as “only begotten.”
And for the second part of this question- and this might not have been what Gage was asking, but I want to address it- why do I equate the Watchers with the Sons of God? I mean, obviously the book of Enoch is equating the two, but is that term “Watchers” a biblical term?
Yes, it actually is. This word comes up three times for the members of God’s Divine Council in Daniel 4. This is the chapter where Nebuchadnezzar is basically turned into a wild animal for 7 years as a curse for his pride. When he’s warned about it in a dream, it says in
Daniel 4:13
I saw in the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and behold, a watcher, a holy one, came down from heaven.
And then in Daniel 4:17
The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones…
And then Daniel 4:23 says
…the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven…
So notice this phrase that’s used every time it says “watcher”: “a holy one.” What are the holy ones? It’s the members of God’s Divine Council. Let’s also look at a psalm that discusses the Divine Council a bit:
Psalm 89:5-7
5 Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,
your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!
6 For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord,
7 a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones,
and awesome above all who are around him?
Now, when it says “heavenly beings” there in the ESV, that’s in Hebrew “bene el.” It’s talking about the same type of beings as “bene elohim” in Geneis 6, the Sons of God. My ESV Bible has a footnote there that says “Sons of God” underneath that verse. So we see here that these phrases of Sons of God, the Holy Ones, and the Watchers are all terms that are equated with each other by Hebrew parallelism. (And note that earlier, Enoch 12 also referred to the Watchers as the Holy Ones.)
Another connective tissue on what it means to be a Son of God is that it refers to a being who was meant to partner with God in ruling the world. This was Adam’s role originally; to take dominion of planet earth. This is what the current Sons of God do now; they watch over humanity and participate in God’s council. This is what Jesus obviously does as King of the world. And this is what WE- we redeemed Christians- are meant to do in the future world after Jesus comes back.
In fact, we’re really supposed to be doing that now; taking dominion of the world, and contributing to God’s decision-making process through our prayers. So to anyone listening, if you aren’t doing that already, get serious about prayer! For more information on the sons of God, you can go back to episode 3 of this podcast, called Who are the Sons of God?
Thank you, Gage, great question, and I appreciate this chance to overexplain my answer today.
Closing Thoughts
And I probably did a lot of overexplaining today. A lot of going back to the Greek. If anyone doesn’t like the term rapture, call it the harpadzo doctrine! It doesn’t matter to me what we call it. I just hope I showed that it’s biblical. I hope I turned the temperature down a little bit on this word today. It is a weird thing to believe. And it can take courage to be weird in this world that rewards you for fitting into a mold. Even within the Christian world.
Eschatology is important to me, but it’s not something I get mad about when other Christians see things differently. There are so many beliefs out there about the end times, and I feel pretty strongly about how I see it playing out, but I would never tell you I’ve got it all figured out. We’ll all have some stuff we were right about and other things we got wrong. I love debating it, but the last thing I ever want to be is arrogant toward fellow Christians who don’t see it the same way.
If you’re a listener who is pro-rapture like me, I hope I helped you in defending this doctrine. And if you’re anti-rapture, I hope I helped you understand our position better and helped you refine your arguments against it.
I really mean that. I don’t break fellowship with anyone over this. And I hope you don’t either. All Christians are going to see things differently to some extent. But we don’t have to be defined by our differences. I hope we Christians- even when we disagree- can be defined by our love for one another.
Whether you like pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib, or a McRib- we’re all gonna be there together someday. I just hope the meet-and-greet time doesn’t last longer than five minutes.
Let’s focus on what unites us: we love Jesus, we love His Word, and we’re weird. At least, I know I am. And I hope you’re a little more weird today, too.
Thanks for listening, God bless you for sticking around until the end, and we’ll see you next time on Weird Stuff in the Bible.