"CAUGHT UP"...

"CAUGHT UP" - HARPAZO - 1 Thes 4:17
The term "caught up" depicts a powerful event. The Greek word "harpazo" (Strongs 726) conveys the idea of force suddenly exercised (Vines) and is used to describe a powerful release of God's energy. It means to be taken hold of, to be seized by a power beyond our own. For those who would say “caught up” means to be removed from the earth let us consider the following. Paul was “caught up” to the third heaven and whether in or out of his body but he did not leave the earth; he had access to spiritual realms and heard words which could not be expressed in human language. Philip was “caught away” by the Lord from one place to another but neither did he leave the earth. It seems Ezekiel also had a similar experience. Each received a powerful intervention of God's power which released them from the restrictions of this physical dimension but they were not taken away. (2 Cor 12:2-4, Acts 8:39, Ezk 8:3, 11:24)
The use of this word by the Lord himself reveals its meaning. Jesus used the same word but never said that people are taken out of the world. He said that "harpazo" empowers “men of force” to enter the Kingdom of God. (Matt 11:12) The NIV says, "the Kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing and forceful men lay hold of it". Men enter into it by the “harpazo” power of God. It conveys the idea of pressing into and possessing the Kingdom. (Luke 16:16) Every time Christ did a miracle he reached into a “future age”, the Kingdom age, took hold of it and released its power into the present situation. Through "harpazo" believers were able to take hold of and enter into the Kingdom. Jesus did not use the word to mean being taken to heaven but to mean entering the Kingdom of God here on earth. They were not taken out of the world but experienced the power of God coming in to them to change them in the world. “Harpazo” is the forceful dynamics of God to catch someone into His power. It is God seizing control.
Paul experienced “harpazo” and used the same word to describe what will happen to living believers at the parousia. It is the release of God's power into believers, not to take them away but to enter His Presence when He comes. It is not a removal from a place but a transformation from a state. The "harpazo" is the dynamic power of God to catch believers out of their fallen condition of corruption and transform them into the incorruptible life of Christ. It means first and foremost a catching out of a state, that of carnality and death, into that of spiritual power. (See page 28, Romans 8) The “harpazo” releases one from the restrictions of this present mortal life to fully transform one into the freedom of Christ's life right here and now. The “harpazo” will happen as it did with Jesus. The “man child” was “caught up” to God. (Rev. 12:5) In the same way he had come and gone during the 40 days he just stepped through the veil into the cloud. When He returns the “harpazo” will happen in the same way. He will step out and they will meet him not up in the stratosphere but right here in the Cloud of his Presence. But some may say “The Lord must first descend”. To descend (Strongs 2597) means to “step down”. (Jn5:7) He will just step down from the cloud.
"A MEETING IN THE AIR"
If the clouds at Christ's return are not weather clouds but clouds of God's Glory and Presence, then the term "in the air" must also convey a spiritual reality. Once again, if I said “I am walking on air” would you take that to mean I am floating around in clouds? Paul did not mean that believers will go up to the atmospheric clouds but that they will enter the Presence or realm of Christ's Power and Glory in the mighty Clouds of His Holy Spirit. The place God met His people in the OT was in the Cloud of His Presence in the “Tabernacle of Meeting”. (Num 12:4) This is where He will return, to his Living Tabernacle, in the Cloud of His Mighty Spirit.
The “air” is a word Paul used to describe a dimension in our immediate vicinity. This is not a frequently used word and the apostle Paul used it to mean the air in the sense of it being nearby, surrounding us, not far away. (Strong’s Dictionary, no.109 - circumambient.) This is how he described the reality of the invisible spiritual dimension very near to us, all around us, right here “in the air”.
The word "air" is used in the New Testament for both natural air and the realm of spiritual powers working in the earth. In the book of Revelation it is used in the context of angelic activity on earth and in Ephesians 2:2 it describes the realm and work of "the prince of the power of the air" working in this present earth. It is a spiritual dimension right here within the natural air. To understand this one must understand the realities of different dimensions so close to each other that they superimpose upon each other. Paul linked the air with the realm where spiritual battle takes place and the Lord rules. The realm of the air is the realm over which Jesus has ultimate rule. This dimension will open for believers.
When Jesus returns he descends from heaven. (1 Thes 4:16) He will then “catch his people into the air”, a different word from heaven. He does not ascend back into heaven with them but he takes them into His immediate Presence in the Holy Spirit, the Cloud of Shekinah Glory, His Holy Presence, “in the air”.
The word "air" is used in a similar way as the word “wind” which also denotes both natural and spiritual realities. (Eph 2:2) In the New Testament the word "wind" almost always conveys the meaning of "spirit". In the same way, when the apostle Paul spoke of "air" he certainly did NOT mean what we breathe, made of nitrogen and oxygen but was referring to an invisible spirit dimension. Air is the nearest Paul could get to describe this invisible realm. Just as air is real but invisible so Paul used it to describe the very real but invisible realm which is very close to us. It is a spirit dimension which is not far off, just invisible, nearby "in the air" all around us. Paul did not mean that believers will be caught up to the cloudy sky but that believers will have access to spirit dimensions. The "air" is the Spirit realm that Jesus rules over and which will open for believers. At his "parousia" believers are not going up into the weather clouds but are going into the "Presence" of Christ in the Clouds of the Holy Spirit and Shekina Glory.
As believers we are “seated with him” and have access to the realm of His Presence even though we may not see Him. When he returns we will be able to fully enter and see him “Face to Face” in Glory.