Shalom, guys.
It's not possible to disagree with the "
harpazo." It's simply the Greek word that is used in several Scripture verses, particularly in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 that is used by those who believe in the pretribulational rapture theory. We MUST agree with a "
harpazo," although the
interpretation of those Scripture verses, including 1 Thessalonians 4:17, are susceptible to one's preconceptions. BUT, what does "
harpazo" mean?
The FIRST thing with which one SHOULD disagree is that the word should be translated as "caught UP!" The direction of "up" is NOWHERE in the verse or in any of the other verses that use the word! Technically, the word simply means "snatched away!" This is another case of the translators "helping out" the translation by supplying a word that is NOT THERE! By this simple addition to the Word of God, the word implies the direction of "up," and suddenly one is being led to think SPATIALLY! I'm not talking about motive, btw. It could be intentional; however, that implies deception. "Never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity." More than likely, it is an honest mistake. We human beings are good at that, and translators are, after all, human beings.
Here's the Greek Dictionary definition from Strong's Concordance:
NT:726 harpazoo (har-pad'-zo); from a derivative of NT:138; to sieze (in various applications):
KJV - catch (away, up), pluck, pull, take (by force).
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
Of course, "caught" is the past tense of "catch." So, perhaps this dictionary definition was also influenced by the translators of the King James Authorized Version, whose translation also influenced many of the subsequent translations, whether consciously or subconsciously.
On a separate note,
keras is correct on several levels. First, there is NO "heaven" as a place separate from the atmosphere and space. Therefore, it is not possible for one to "go to heaven." As I've said before, "heaven" simply means the "sky." That is, in particular, the Greek word "
ouranos," commonly translated as "heaven," refers to the earth's atmosphere! It's where the clouds are; it's where the birds fly; it's where the weather occurs. The Hebrew equivalent is "
shaamaayim." For the place where the sun, moon, stars, and planets exist (space), the Greek word that refers to that area is "
epouranios." The Hebrew uses the phrase "
shaameey hashaamaayim," translated as "the heaven of heavens."
"Heaven is God's throne" because God is SPIRIT (Hebrew:
Ruach meaning "wind!") He is called the "Holy Spirit"; that is, the "
Ruach haQodesh." Like the wind, "no man hath seen God at any time!" We can see and feel the EFFECTS of God, like we see and feel the EFFECTS of the wind, but we can see neither God nor the wind. The Greek equivalent is "
pneuma" from which we get the term "pneumatic," as in a "pneumatic pump" which harnesses air pressure to lift objects.
Here's a dictionary definition:
pneumatic |n(y)o͞oˈmatik|
adjective
1 containing or operated by air or gas under pressure.
• Zoology (chiefly of cavities in the bones of birds) containing air.
• informal (of a woman) having large breasts: Lee and his pneumatic wife.
2 of or relating to the spirit.
noun (usu. pneumatics)
an item of pneumatic equipment.
DERIVATIVES
pneumatically |n(y)o͞oˈmatək(ə)lē| adverb.
pneumaticity |ˌn(y)o͞oməˈtisətē| noun
ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from French pneumatique or Latin pneumaticus, from Greek pneumatikos, from pneuma ‘wind,’ from pnein ‘breathe.’
"Wind" is simply "air moving from an area of higher pressure to an area of lower pressure." So, God, who is Spirit like the "wind," can sit upon His "throne" of the atmosphere, but we cannot because we need our physical bodies to exist!
I always get tickled when I hear the old song, "But just think of stepping on shore, and finding it...
H
e
a
v
e
n
n
n
n
!
!
!
!" (Like stepping on a cloud out of a flying airplane!)
The song goes on "of touching a hand and finding it God's" (<Whoosh!> Oops, missed! Try again!)
"...of breathing new air and finding it celestial..." (
epouranios sometimes translated "celestial" = "of outer space!" Good luck trying to breathe that "air"... or the lack thereof!)
"...of waking up in Glory..." (brightness like that of the sun) "...and finding it home!"
Now, it's best not to reduce things to x "IS" y formats. You can seldom reduce things down to a simple "=" format. It's better to use the "SUBSET" format. For instance, the "church" is a SUBSET of "Isra'el." IF you can also say that "Isra'el" is a SUBSET of the "church," THEN you can say that the "church" IS (EQUIVALENT TO) "Isra'el," and NOT BEFORE!
Frankly, I believe that one can prove from Scripture that the "church" (technically, "churchES") are a subset of "Isra'el," but NOT the reverse.