I think another clue that the flying away process might be slower and not the “twinkling of an eye” when our bodies are changed, is this passage below. It has me also wondering ... if the unsaved will witness us flying away into the clouds? Acts 1:8-11 8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. I still have not heard any reason or presentation of any evidence that God will not give us prior notice before the Rapture event. As far as the "twinkling of an eye" phrase, it is referring to the changing of our bodies from corruptible to incorruptible and not the length of time it takes to meet our Bridegroom in the air. :rose: Yes, I believe the church will get a prior heads up warning ... Noah had heads up warning. Both Abraham and Lot had heads up warning before the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah. I’m leaning it might be angels that tell us since they are administering spirits. Just not sure if its a 3, 5, 7 or 8 day heads up notice for the church. The number 3 means completeness, though to a lesser degree than 7. The 3 righteous patriarchs before the flood were Abel, Enoch and Noah. After the deluge there was the righteous "fathers" Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (later renamed Israel). The number 5 symbolizes God's grace, goodness and favor towards man. “Age of Grace” comes to a close at the time of the rapture. The number 7 means completeness and perfection (both physical and spiritual). The number 8 represents a new beginning, meaning a new order or creation, and man's true 'born again' event when he is resurrected from the dead into eternal life. Hi 2ndcoming, You wrote: "God has a covenant with the church. When her time is up, God shall call her home by breaking the covenant with all the people." I'm not following you here. When God calls His church home, He is fulfilling the covenant, not breaking it. To break it would be to cut off the church. In Zech chapter 11, Zechariah breaks the staff, Beauty, nullifying the covenant that restrained the Gentiles from oppressing God's people. The connotation is not good. His covenant with the church is with His believers, not the unbelievers. The door is opened to all, but the covenant is for those who have accepted His Son’s sacrifice. Please understand, I am not saying you are wrong, I’m just not following you here. To your main point, "the church shall witness a war breaks out between Israel and the three shepherds", you could very well be correct. Perhaps the Lord will use our pets to warn us and instead of them barking or meowing they will speak “get ready ... its time to go”? :mdrmdr: Those that don’t have pets, perhaps the neighbor’s pet or a wild animal or a bird will give them heads up warning? The animal kingdom have such good hearing and will probably hear the trumpet/shofar in the distance way before us. The Lord used Balaam’s donkey to speak. Eve had conversations with the snake before the fall. I believe we will be hearing the animals and our pets talk in the next life. They are included in the praise and worship ceremony in heaven! Rev 5:11-13 11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; 12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. 13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. Very good possibility Geri7 . That is really thinking out of the box. Love it. :good: The apocryphal Book of Jubilees touches on that subject, sort of: And God cursed the serpent, and was wroth with it for ever . . . This has made me wonder [if at all true, which isn't certain] if in the Millennial Kingdom the lion lays down with the lamb because they are all talking together again. But if that's true, how stunning the required sacrifices Ezekiel describes will be. This has always been a subject near and dear to my heart! For even in the study of the traditional Jewish wedding we are given a prophetic model. For as the bridegroom is released to gather his bride, a boisterous wedding party with much fan fare and music heralds the bridegrooms appearance! So too in the parable of the virgins, a cry was made at midnight. The bridegroom cometh! Can the beloved bride of Christ expect any less! Many speculations have already been shared, and all individually plausible. The hard fact remains; we shall be given an advance herald before we are raptured! Remembering as well that angels were indeed often used to herald great tidings from God! Either way, in any event, the Blessed Hope is not diminished! But rather to bring exceeding comfort & joy! PS: Why I use the moniker of Tender Reed. Firstly, I believe that it was given me by the Lord. Secondly, it is something I wish to aspire to achieve. Likewise the doctrinal assertion of an advance warning or "heads up" for the Bride prior to our departure, does inspire anxious and longing hearts. TR The word "break" is also understood as "cease to exist", or in my case, makes the church ceased to exist by taking the church out of the earth. Also, God has clearly indicated that this is the covenant he has made with "all the people". Mosaic covenant, Abrahamic covenant, Davidic covenant are the covenant God makes with selected people Abraham, David and Israelis. These covenants do not extend to all the people on earth which includes all the gentiles nations. Only the church covenant can see it extend to "all the people" on earth. And there is a question regarding the timing of breaking this covenant. It takes place between God cutting off the three shepherds and the appearance of the foolish shepherd Anti Christ. Since these events are still in future, we need to ask ourselves which covenant is God going to break before the appearance of AC, and after three shepherds are cut off? At this moment, I can only think of the covenant God has made with his church. God also calls the staff Beauty. Jesus has referred himself to bridegroom. So the church must be his bride. When God sees the church / bride is ready from her perfection, it prompts God calling the church "Beauty". Having said this, the first staff "Beauty" represents the church. Hear the scapegoat say, "It's a far far better thing I do than I have ever done. It's a far far greater place I go to than I have ever gone..." Wait a minute! Will there be a scapegoat in the Millennium? I used to wonder why Adam and Eve were not amazed at there being a talking serpent. There must have been either changes in serpents' throats, lungs, tongues, vocal cords and so forth, or maybe more reasonably, communication among living beings not limited to audio voicing, glottal fricatives, and so forth. Ecclesiastes 3:21 implies animals have spirits. Do you communicate spiritually? Ideally it's regularly every day. Just look into your dog's adoring eyes. That's spiritual! Well, if our two house cats or our dog start wandering saying out loud in English or Spanish, "It's almost time for the Rapture," I'll probably just retort, "Tell me something I don't already know!"
And He was wroth with the woman, because she harkened to the voice of the serpent, and did eat; and He said unto her: 'I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy pains: in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy return shall be unto thy husband, and he will rule over thee.'
And to Adam also he said, ' Because thou hast harkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat thereof, cursed be the ground for thy sake: thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat thy bread in the sweat of thy face, till thou returnest to the earth from whence thou wast taken; for earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou return.'
And He made for them coats of skin, and clothed them, and sent them forth from the Garden of Eden.
And on that day on which Adam went forth from the Garden, he offered as a sweet savour an offering, frankincense, galbanum, and stacte, and spices in the morning with the rising of the sun from the day when he covered his shame.
And on that day was closed the mouth of all beasts, and of cattle, and of birds, and of whatever walks, and of whatever moves, so that they could no longer speak: for they had all spoken one with another with one lip and with one tongue.
And He sent out of the Garden of Eden all flesh that was in the Garden of Eden, and all flesh was scattered according to its kinds, and according to its types unto the places which had been created for them.
And to Adam alone did He give (the wherewithal) to cover his shame, of all the beasts and cattle. http://www.pseudepigrapha.com/jubilees/3.htm 
