Our world has always been a violent place. Since the days that Cain murdered Abel there has been violence. It always comes in waves, like a rollercoaster. We go up, we go down. Satanas has a violent streak against humans, for many reasons. In any event, violent tribulations manufactured by Satanas and his principalities and powers have saturated all areas of the earth. There are many warring factions fighting one another. This is the state of our world, however it is not the state of the upper heavens.
There is war in the heavens, the lower heavens, not the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven. The lower heavens is simply the atmosphere above us. The reason for this war ultimately is that angels sinned, as Peter told us, 2 Peter 2. There are rebellious sons of God in the lower heavens, who work for Satanas and Drakōn. They are warring to take the cosmos and humanity from the Elohim. However the upper heavens are fighting back. We seldom recognize that the war is being pushed on our behalf by the sons of God in the upper heavens. We understand that there are ten levels or places in the upper heavens, which is under the rule of the Elohim, while the lower heavens, which reside above the earth, are under Satanas’ rulership, the god of this world, prince of the air. Some of the places of the spirits of the dead were under control of principalities, from the time of the adam until Jesus’ crucifixion, hades and death, also called “Abrahams Bay”. Jesus however took back the keys to death and hades, witnessed to the imprisoned spirits, and took the righteous saints to paradise. While hades is still under the control of principalities, they are now under Jesus’ authority. When Jesus died he also breached the lower heavens so that the Holy Spirit and he himself could reside in the humans who confess Him. Satanas’ armies in the lower heavens lost some of their hold on humanity by giving us direct access to the Elohim within ourselves.
We do not think about the violence in our atmosphere, the lower heavens. Daniel clearly wrote of the angels’ response to engaging in war to come to see Daniel to which the angel needed help from the archangel Michael. From down here there doesn’t seem to be anything going on because we are spiritually blind. Jesus explained that the violent warriors under the Elohim are the ones who will seize the church, or more specifically in context those who repent and confess Jesus as Lord and believe he rose up on the third day. We are the hostages that heaven wants to rescue. Jesus became the “bait” to gain back the right to hold the dead in the place they are to reside, and we are the ones who have to make the decision to receive our rescue, or to stay in the enemy camp.
Now that hades and death have been taken back by force, by Jesus himself, and now that we have two lines of communications between us and the Elohim, via Jesus and the Holy Spirit, we are part of this violent war. We may not have been told in so many words, but here we are. Yahweh Jesus Elohim is the creator; as Colossians 1:16-17 tells us, everything was created by him, for him, and He is before all, and by Him all things consist. Therefore to attempt to overthrow their own creator, the fallen sons of God have to push violence on us. Meanwhile the sons of God in the upper heavens push violence on the fallen sons of God.
What is the harpazo and the tribulation all about? The harpazo is about rescuing the godly before the tribulation. The tribulation is about giving every person one last chance to make a decision to follow Yahweh Jesus Messiah, or Satanas, before the millennial kingdom. This includes all the Jewish people who today reject Jesus as Messiah, as well as all the non-Jewish people who intentionally live for Satanas in one way or another. If we have already made that decision to confess Jesus as Lord then why would we have to go through the tribulation? Peter tells us this:
2Pe 2:9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
As Noah, Lot, Daniel, David, Elijah, Elisha, Moses, and all the other prophets were delivered at times of tribulation we are too, but it is not as easy as we may think. We are violently delivered into the air. We are forcefully delivered. It is not like a golden chariot descends and we can choose to walk into it and be taken up in the air to meet Jesus, it is a seizing. That is the word harpazo. It is a grabbing by the arm and pulling up and away. It is like the spiritual forces of darkness are holding us down on earth and the armies of the Elohim will break through the lower heavens to snatch us up to meet Yahweh Jesus in the air. Let’s review what Jesus said.
When we come to chapter 11 of Matthew we see that John is in prison and his disciples ask Jesus if he is “the one”. Jesus then speaks to the multitudes. He knows that most of them had followed John and had been baptized. So Jesus asks what they went into the wilderness to see. These are people who are repentant, and expecting the Messiah. Jesus is speaking to people who believe on Him as Messiah and had been prepared by John.
Jesus then says that for the last six months, the Kingdom of Heaven uses force. However, the the modern translations make it sound as if heaven is under violent attack and that we are fighting for a prize.
Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize—a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion].
The Amplified Bible. (1987). (Mt 11:12). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
One of the reasons this verse is hard to understand is that the Kingdom of Heaven is not under an assault. The lower heavens are under an assault amongst the sons of God, but the Kingdom of Heaven is not assaulted. No one is using a battering ram against the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven. Neither do we see many violent people sitting in church. In fact, it is rather hard to get a church that is full of people fired up for Jesus. Can Drakōn or Satanas seize heaven? Can they overthrow the Father or the Son? No. There is an innumerable heavenly host at a ratio of two to one, there is no created being who can overthrow the Father or the Son. Can we humans seize heaven? Can we overtake it so that we can enter in on our own terms? No. Are we to make weapons to attempt to steal it from God as Nimrod did? How are we to seize it like a prize? The parenthetical explanation tries to soften the idea that we do the seizing. But maybe we don’t. Instead the Greek says something different.
John had been preaching for six months that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand. Jesus says that from the time of John’s preaching to that point in time the Kingdom of Heaven uses force. The idea of force is to “violently press into”. Heaven is pressing into Satanas’ kingdom.
Matthew 11:12 G575 And from G1161 G3588 the G2250 days G* of John G3588 the G910 Baptist G2193 until G737 just now G3588 the G932 kingdom G3588 of the G3772 heavens G971 is forced, G2532 and G973 [2by assailants G726 1is snatched]. G1473
971 LSJ Gloss:βιάζω to constrain
Dodson:βίαζομαι I use force, violence, suffer violence
(a) mid: I use force, force my way, come forward violently, (b) pass: I am forcibly treated, suffer violence.
TBESG:βιάζω to force
G:V
βιάζω (< βία), and depon. -ομαι,
[in LXX for פּרץ, פּצר, etc. ;]
to force, constrain, rare in act. (poet, and late prose), but found in cl. in pass., and so perh. βιάζεται, suffereth violence, Mat.11:12, EV (but see infr.), whether
__(a) in good sense, of disciples (Thayer, al.), or
__(b) in bad sense, of the enemies of the kingdom (Meyer, in l.; Dalman, Words, 139ff.; Cremer, 141ff.). Mid., advanceth violently, Mt, l.with (Deiss., BS., 258; Banks, see ref. in DCG, ii, 803f.); before εἰς, to press violently, or force one's way into, Luk.16:16 (see ICC, in l., and in Mt, l.with; cf. παραβιάζομαι and see MM, see word).
† (AS)
Thayer:
1) to use force, to apply force
2) to force, inflict violence on
Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words
βιάζω
biazō bee-ad'-zo From G970; to force, that is, (reflexively) to crowd oneself (into), or (passively) to be seized KJV Usage: press, suffer violence.
973 LSJ Gloss:βιαστής one who uses force, a violent man
Dodson:βιαστήςa forceful, violent man a forceful, violent man; one who is eager in pursuit.
TBESG:βιαστής forceful person
G:N-M
βιαστής, -οῦ, ὁ (< βιάζω), late form of βιατάς;
__1. strong, forceful.
__2. violent (Philo): Mat.11:12 (see: βιάζω).
† (AS)
Thayer:
1) strong, forceful
2) using force, violent
Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words
βιαστής
biastēs bee-as-tace' From G971; a forcer, that is, (figuratively) energetic
KJV Usage: violent.
For context, here is the Lexicon definition for harpazo, translated as “snatched” here.
726 LSJ Gloss:ἁρπάζω to snatch away, carry off
Dodson:ἁρπάζω I seize, snatch, obtain by robbery.
Strong’s:ἁρπάζω to seize (in various applications)
Derivation: from a derivative of G138;
KJV Usage: catch (away, up), pluck, pull, take (by force).
TBESG:ἁρπάζω to seize
G:V
ἁρπάζω
[in LXX chiefly for גָּזַל, טָרַף ;]
to seize, catch up, snatch away, carry off by force: with accusative of thing(s),
(AS)
Thayer:
1) to seize, carry off by force
2) to seize on, claim for one's self eagerly
3) to snatch out or away
Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words
ἁρπάζω
harpazō har-pad'-zo From a derivative of G138; to seize (in various applications) KJV Usage: catch (away, up), pluck, pull, take (by force).
1473 ἐγώ
egō eg-o' A primary pronoun of the first person, “I” (only expressed when emphatic)
KJV Usage: I, me. For the other cases and the plural see G1691, G1698, G1700, G2248, G2249, G2254, G2257, etc.
“But away from the days John the Baptizer until at this moment the Kingdom the Heaven uses force and one who uses force harpazo it (them)”.
The Kingdom of Heaven itself uses force. The one who uses force snatches it. Notice the word “it”. What does the “it” refer to?The “it” suggests that forceful people seize the Kingdom of Heaven. But let’s look at the LXX-WH
Matthew 11:12 G575 PREP απο G1161 CONJ δε G3588 T-GPF των G2250 N-GPF ημερων G2491 N-GSM ιωαννου G3588 T-GSM του G910 N-GSM βαπτιστου G2193 CONJ εως G737 ADV αρτι G3588 T-NSF η G932 N-NSF βασιλεια G3588 T-GPM των G3772 N-GPM ουρανων G971 [G5743] V-PPI-3S βιαζεται G2532 CONJ και G973 N-NPM βιασται G726 [G5719] V-PAI-3P αρπαζουσιν G846 P-ASF αυτην
https://studybible.info/LXX_WH/Matthew%2011
846 αὐτός
autos ow-tos' From the particle αὖ au (perhaps akin to the base of G109 through the idea of a baffling wind; backward); the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the compound of G1438) of the third person, and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other persons
KJV Usage: her, it (-self), one, the other, (mine) own, said, ([self-], the) same, ([him-, my-, thy-]) self, [your-] selves, she, that, their (-s), them ([-selves]), there [-at, -by, -in, -into, -of, -on, -with], they, (these) things, this (man), those, together, very, which.
“But away from the day John the Baptizer until at this moment the Kingdom the Heaven uses force and one who uses force harpazo them”.
The word “them” is a third person pronoun, suggesting people, not a thing. According to Robinson’s Morphological Analysis Codes, 846 P-ASF is as follows: personal pronoun. It is in the accusative case. The number is singular and the gender is feminine. “Them” marks the verb harpazo. Harpazo is a V-PAI-3P, a present, active, indicative, third person, plural. Who are the “them” that the one who uses force is harpazo-ing? The Church, “them” who have repented and believe. The Church is always a “she”, feminine, and the bride of Christ.
The “it” 1473 P-GS is a pronoun, genitive case, and is singular. “It” marks the noun, Kingdom. Some Greek translators use 1473 as generally and as often as possible, while the LXX-WH is more specific in its pronoun form. The proper personal pronoun here is “them”.
The English translators used a generic pronoun to mark the Greek word ἐγώ as “it”. However the word is actually αυτην/αὐτός “them”. Why would someone translate this word “it” instead of them? We can see that Jesus is explaining seizing by force. Yet there are some religious people that would rather hide that information from the Body of Christ. Either they do not believe what Jesus said or they think that the Body of Christ should not be told what Jesus said. Maybe both. Nevertheless, what Jesus said establishes what Paul says.
We do not consciously realize that we are heading to hades. The Kingdom of Heaven has many sons of the Elohim working in the heavens and on the earth for the benefit of the Elohim. We are unaware of their activities but they are actively working for the Kingdom of Heaven. They are forcing or more accurately advancing violently against the god of this world who gathered other traitors and is attempting to overthrow their Creator. Satanas wants to take over Jesus’ creation but he is limited. His numbers are small as well. Now Jesus has taken back the keys to death and hades and Satanas has no rule over those places. He only rules the earth and the lower air.
The Kingdom of heaven is inflicting force on the lower heavens or air and earth. The forceful one seizes them. See the picture? There is no violent assault on the Kingdom of Heaven, but the Kingdom of Heaven itself is forcing its way onto earth. Isn’t that what John and Jesus kept saying, that the Kingdom of Heaven is near? Who then is Jesus going to seize? The people who followed John in baptism and repentance and of course everyone who believes on Jesus. The church is a “she”, feminine, and Jesus will forcibly seize her. Jesus is leading the violent pressing onto the earth. The Kingdom of Heaven is near.
There seems to be two different thoughts here. One is from the day that John started baptizing people until that time when Jesus was speaking, approximately six months, the Kingdom of Heaven uses force. If the Kingdom of Heaven is using force, it is using force on the kingdom of Satanas. It is entering into Satanas’ kingdom, freeing captives by their own repentance and baptism. That is a heavenly assault on the prince of this world’s kingdom. The Kingdom of Heaven harpazo’s by force the dead in Christ who will rise first and the living who will join them in the air.
The second thought is that the one using force harpazo’s the repentant ones, who are now in a new age. “And one who uses force harpazo’s them.” This tells us that someone is snatching “them” away by force.
Either someone in the Kingdom of Heaven uses force to harpazo “them” or uses force to harpazo “it”, the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is not harpazo’d. No one snatches away the Kingdom of Heaven. Who does the snatching in the Kingdom? Is it us or is it Jesus? We know from Paul’s writings that Jesus calls us and then we are harpazo’d. We humans cannot snatch up heaven, we cannot decide that we are going there and push our way in without believing in Christ as our Lord and believing that he rose up on the third day. However we do have to fight for our faith every day. This is a weird statement to make in the middle of explaining John the Baptist. But there is more.
John the Baptist was baptizing people for repentance so that they would have prepared hearts for the King who comes to fill the Kingdom of Heaven. John was getting people ready to receive Jesus as Messiah. People knew that someone like Elijah would come before the Messiah would come. John fit the description of Elijah as he was wearing camel skins, eating locust, and living in the desert. This signaled to people that the Messiah was near.
Where do the “them” get harpazo’d to? The Kingdom of Heaven, the subject of the statement. This is a bigger picture than we understand. The Kingdom of Heaven uses force and the one using force snatches away “them” into the Kingdom of Heaven. So the hidden understanding here is Jesus explaining the harpazo to his disciples early in his ministry. Jesus lays out the previous age and the new age, and when the new age expires.
Why was the Kingdom under force only for the last six months? John was out of school six months before Jesus. John was turning the place upside down calling for people to repent. John was loosing people from sin with an injunction, repentance. What was fighting against the Kingdom of Heaven? The kingdom of Satanas. John was emptying out hell, so to speak. People were being baptized as to renewing their lives for the Lord so that when Jesus came, their hearts would be prepared. For nearly four thousand years the majority of people were filling hades because they did not repent. There were hardly any passovers, there were not many celebrating the fall feasts, and most people believed that the Messiah was not coming. John prepared the way for the Lord for six months. The Kingdom of Heaven was invading the earth.
This tells us something else. If John was preaching for six months, and the Kingdom of Heaven was violently invading the earth for six months, then it tells us that the sons of the Elohim are pressing onto the earth with force when someone preaches salvation and repentance. The idea is easily understood when we think of Daniel fasting for twenty one days. The battle in the lower heavens or lower air was fierce enough that angels could not break through to Daniel. In Daniel 10:13 Michael is called an archōn prōtos or “a ruling chief or a commanding principal”. There is an understanding that Michael and his class were created before the regular angels and they are mightier in strength and power. As a side note, Satanas is not an archangel but was created alongside of the archangels. Satanas is an incorporeal being. Noting that Michael will fight with Drakōn and Satanas, ejecting them from the upper heavens, throwing them to earth, we see that Michael is, and will be, perfectly capable of clearing out the rebellious sons of God from the heavenly realm. Meanwhile, when we preach, teach, and lead others to the Kingdom of Heaven then we are not alone in our efforts. The other sons of Elohim are forcibly pressing into the earthly realm.
https://musingsofawinsomeheart.blogspot.com/2023/08/jesus-harpazos-johns-multitudes-violent.html
https://musingsofawinsomeheart.blogspot.com/2021/10/jesus-teaches-harpazo-snatched-into.html
This is why there is a spiritual battle around us or coming at us when we push for people to be saved. There are rules for engagement among the spiritual sons of the Elohim and the fallen spiritual beings because there is a just Lord. Otherwise why wouldn’t the Elohim just wipe out all evil and let humans live in peace? Evil beings have their time of ruling on the earth because the adam turned over his leadership position for the knowledge of good and evil. We have to understand that every battle we come up against is due to bringing people to Jesus Messiah. It is a rollercoaster of highs and lows.
Think about Paul in Ephesus. He baptized people in the Holy Spirit, and taught in the synagogue for three months. These are the highs.
Act 19:4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
Act 19:5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Act 19:6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
Act 19:7 And all the men were about twelve.
Act 19:8 And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.
Paul faced spiritual opposition but until this time the rollercoaster was going up, up, up.
Act 19:9 But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.
Now down they go, the fear, the terror, the expecting, the unexpected anxiousness is in them all. The hardhearted Jews created lows, so Paul moved on. Paul taught in the school of Tyrannus for two years. This is like renting an open air pavilion where anyone passing by could stop and listen. And up the rollercoaster goes. Paul is back to highs.
Act 19:10 And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
Then seven Jews, sons of Sceva, who were exorcists not believers on Jesus were trying to use their own power to cast out demons. One demon wasn’t having it.
Act 19:16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
Act 19:17 And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
Act 19:18 And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.
Act 19:19 Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.
Act 19:20 So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.
There were even more highs, people burning their magic arts and books while confessing Jesus as their Lord. The rollercoaster was going up but there was some lows coming. We are not sure when, but Paul writes his first letter to the Corinthians while in Ephesus and mentions this:
1Co 15:32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.
This rollercoaster must be banking right and left as it descends. We could say this is another low. Luke does not give us the details of this situation. Obviously Paul came out of it alive. It would seem this was not part of the uproar in Ephesus regarding Diana of the Ephesians, but before that time. Preaching had caused Paul to make enemies. The Jews hated him, the followers of Diana hated him, the magicians and sorcerers hated him, as well as the sons of Sceva. Whenever Paul was fighting wild beasts, it was before the riot in the amphitheater.
Act 20:1 And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them, and departed for to go into Macedonia.
Paul leaves Ephesus after teaching for two years, but his legacy of miracles lived on. The spiritual battle in the heavens above earth was not visible but we see the bigger events were quite a rollercoaster ride. All disciples, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, ride the rollercoaster of spiritual warfare. But living through spiritual battles is not indicative of being in the tribulation. The spiritual battles during the tribulation will be different.
Today, we battle endlessly against principalities, powers, and Satanas, the dark ruler of the world. In the tribulation the battle will be predetermined, there will be worldwide catastrophes as each seal is opened. Then again as each trumpet sounds, and also when each bowl is poured out. The instigators of these events are the Elohim. Satanas is not punishing anyone during the tribulation unless they confess Jesus as Lord. During the seals men will harm men, during the trumpets the earth will harm men, and during the bowls the Father is harming men. Midway through these events Michael and his angels throw Drakōn, Satanas, and their fallen angels out of the lower heavens to the earth. The culmination of these events ends with the armies of the Lord coming back with Jesus to sweep the earth. This is another violent assault from the heavens to the earth as the earth is prepared for the millennial kingdom. The saints are not on the earth again until the time they return with Jesus.
The saints have the Holy Spirit in them, the saints have Jesus Christ in them, there is no place in the scriptures that states the Holy Spirit will be ripped out of people before the tribulation. There is no place in the scriptures that states that Christ in us the hope of glory will be removed from out of us. Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is violent. The seals, the trumpets, and the bowls show just how violent, but in a legal way. The legality of this violence is that we are warned ahead of time. There is no excuse for us not to know this.
The heavens will force itself onto the earth during the tribulation, and the effects will be dire for the Jesus rejecters. We know how the entire story plays out. There is no extra curricular knowledge that we need, no extra prophetic knowledge that we do not have, and no excuse for not knowing what the future states. Satanas will be running the earth with his principalities and powers over the people, he will kill anyone who confesses Jesus as Lord, and then after the beast kills off Babylon, Satanas will tell his people to war against the kingdom of heaven. Seriously, how dumb will people have to be to believe that they can fight against the Mighty Almighty, Creator and King, the I Am. Will chemical warfare cause mass retardation, melting people’s intellect?
“But away from the day John the Baptizer until at this moment the Kingdom the Heaven uses force and one who uses force harpazo them”.
Heaven will use force to free the saints off the earth. The one who uses force in the kingdom of heaven will seize the saints, the people who repent, and confess Jesus is Lord and believe he rose up on the third day. While we do not see the angels waring to minister to the heirs of salvation, we know that they do. Jesus told us that we will be seized by force, by the one using force against the earth. Just as John the Baptist was pushing people to prepare for the Lord, Jesus is pushing Satanas and his minions until we are taken up, so that each of us have an opportunity to choose him.
