Summer is a wonderful time of year. There are sunny skies, green grass, flowers blooming, warm breezes, and long days. Summer fun is looked forward to all year long. It is hard to imagine that each and every one of us is born destined to hades. Wow, that was a dramatic shift. We look around and find beauty in everything, even though we live in a fallen world. However because we train ourselves to see what is beautiful, we seldom think about how each and every son of the adam is destined for hades, a place that Jesus told us was not beautiful but full of torture. Hades is hot, there is no water, there is a chasm between it and Abraham’s bay. There is knowledge in hades of a better place that can be seen but no one from hades can go there. Jesus tells us that Abraham pointed out to a rich man in hades that he had good things on the earth in his life, and now the rich man is in hades begging for help from a poor man who had evil things in his life. Abraham further stated that the rich man’s family had Moses and the prophets and could avoid hades by listening to Moses and the prophets. But if they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets they won’t believe even if one is risen from the dead. This is the condition of the people that Jesus was speaking to. They rejected Moses, they rejected the prophets and then they rejected Jesus. Therefore they will find themselves in hades. We all will unless we make a conscious decision to believe and to confess Jesus is Yahweh and Messiah and that he rose up on the third day. This is why there is a war in the heavens. Not in the Kingdom of Heaven, the war is in the lower heavens and on the earth.
Jesus tells us this literally: “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”. What did he mean?
Let’s start by looking at John. John was foretold by an angel to be under a Nazarite vow. John was an Essene Nazarene.
Luk 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
Luk 1:16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
Luk 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
The Angel says that John’s mission was going to turn the Israelites to Yahweh Elohim. He would turn the Father’s hearts to the children, which tells us that the fathers had turned their hearts away from their own children. John’s preaching was going to restore families. John was also turning the disobedient to wisdom and righteousness. He was preparing people for Jesus. John had been preaching this:
Mat 3:1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
Mat 3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mat 3:3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
John wasn’t necessarily saying anything new, he was preaching the words of Isaiah. He looked like Elijah. Remember, Elijah was from the city of priests and he ran over 400 miles to simply meet with Yahweh where Moses had met with Yahweh. John, like Elijah, knew what his mission was and was prepared to fulfill it.
Mat 3:4 And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.
John was fulfilling the words of the prophets preparing people for the Messiah.
Mat 3:5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,
Mat 3:6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
Mat 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
This tells us that John is preaching a way out from the wrath to come. There has to be a wrath that the people who were being baptized were escaping from. It is the same with us, we are not appointed to the wrath of the lamb. The Pharisees were not holy men, especially in comparison to the Essenes and Nazarenes.
Mat 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
Mat 3:9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
The Pharisees were trying to rely on their family lineage to claim that they were saved from the wrath to come, but they were wrong. The Elohim does not need people with a certain family line because stones could be made into children of Abraham. Just as if we don’t praise then the rocks will praise instead. That takes all the “special privilege” out of people’s family tree.
Mat 3:10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
As we read about grafting olive branches last week, we understand that there is a number for the completion of the nations to enter into the grafting. The other portion to that understanding is that the bad branches and trees will be burned. John is telling them that they are fruitless trees that are going to be burned.
Mat 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
Mat 3:12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
John says that he baptizes with water for repentance, but the Messiah, Jesus, will baptize in the Holy Ghost and fire. Jesus will sweep up the wheat, separating the wheat from the straw, and will keep the wheat, but He will burn the straw. John knew that the Pharisees would not accept Jesus because Jesus could not be bought. Jesus was not going to “work for” the Pharisees. Some Pharisees became believers in Jesus as Messiah, but the majority did not. John was preparing everyone for the Messiah but knew that the Pharisees by and large would reject Jesus. The Pharisees were all about protecting themselves and their order. John is warning them that Jesus will sift out the good grain from the chaff.
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.
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 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.
We can also remember what happened when the seventy disciples went out preaching that the Kingdom of God is near. They came back rejoicing that even demons were subject to them. Jesus told them that he saw Satanas fall like lightning from heaven. What did Jesus mean? Satanas wasn’t falling as if he was injured, he was moving as fast as he could to reorder his kingdom. Jesus’ name was causing the hold that demons had on people to be broken. Satanas came down from heaven to fix the mess that the seventy had made. These are things we do not see, but they are happening. Imagine the rejoicing in the heavens among the sons of God when the disciples were preaching the Kingdom of God and demons were subject to the name of Jesus. We technically are working together with the other sons of God to complete the entering in of the nations to the grafted olive tree.
Matthew 11:13 G3956 For all G1063 G3588 the G4396 prophets G2532 and G3588 the G3551 law G2193 [2until G* 3John G4395 1prophesied].
“For all the Prophets and the Mosaic Law foretold until John”
Jesus explains that the Law and the Prophets are an “age” up to the time of John. All the things prophesied about the Messiah and the things written as Laws so that people could keep themselves sanctified were until John came to baptize. This is the change in the age that Jesus is mentioning.
Matthew 11:14 G2532 And G1487 if G2309 you want G1209 to receive, G1473 he G1510.2.3 is G* Elijah, G3588 the one G3195 being about G2064 to come.
“And whether desire receive he is Elijah the about to come”.
Again we have a slight variation in translation here.
Matthew 11:14 G2532 CONJ και G1487 COND ει G2309 [G5719] V-PAI-2P θελετε G1209 [G5664] V-ADN δεξασθαι G846 P-NSM αυτος G2076 [G5748] V-PXI-3S εστιν G2243 N-NSM ηλιας G3588 T-NSM ο G3195 [G5723] V-PAP-NSM μελλων G2064 [G5738] V-PNN ερχεσθα
“And whether desire receive them he is Elijah the about to come”.
Who is the “them”? The Law and the Prophets. Jesus says that if you wish or desire to accept the Law and the Prophets then Elijah is about to come. Jesus is encompassing the age he just mentioned. The prior age is the Law and the Prophets. The new age is from the time that John started calling for repentance and baptizing people. During that age someone will use force to harpazo “them”. The conclusion of the new age is Elijah and Enoch coming to earth.
What did Malachi say?
Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. [Matt. 11:14; 17:10-13.]
6 And he shall turn and reconcile the hearts of the [estranged] fathers to the [ungodly] children, and the hearts of the [rebellious] children to [the piety of] their fathers [a reconciliation produced by repentance of the ungodly], lest I come and smite the land with a curse and a ban of utter destruction. [Luke 1:17.]
The Amplified Bible. (1987). (Mal 4:5–6). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
Elijah and Enoch will come to earth when the saints are harpazo’d. They will be on the earth for three and one half years, and then they will be called up to heaven to join the saints during the coronation of Jesus. If we put these ideas together we see a bigger picture. Before John the Baptist came there was the Law and the Prophets. At the time that Jesus is speaking, the prior six months, the Kingdom of Heaven uses force and the one who uses force harpazos them. If one accepts the Law and the Prophets that one understands that Elijah is going to come before the Day of the Lord.
“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. For all the Prophets and the Mosaic Law foretold until John. And whether desire receive them he is Elijah the about to come”.
Jesus gave everyone the plan for the next two thousand years. Humans mixed it up, but this is the plan. At this time we are awaiting the harpazo. On that day Elijah and Enoch will come down to earth. This is the age that we are in. The age will change when the redeemed are harpazo’d. John prepared the way for people to accept Jesus. He told people that Jesus was the Messiah
Matthew 11:15 G3588 The one G2192 having G3775 ears G191 to hear, G191 let him hear!
The heavens are a violent place, but not the Kingdom of Heaven. The heavens, the places where the hosts of heaven reside, is a place of war. The one who uses force to harpazo the church is violent. There is a reason it is a violent action, the redeemed are being taken out of the possession of the god of this world. The harpazo’d saints will no longer live under Satanas’ rule. The harpazo’d saints will not be oppressed and will come to know the fullness of what we were called to.
https://musingsofawinsomeheart.blogspot.com/2021/10/jesus-teaches-harpazo-snatched-into.html
We might want to reimagine our mental image of the harpazo and the fight for peoples’ redemption. The church has made the idea of salvation and our redemption a happy, clappy, singing and dancing event. While we can celebrate it, we should recognize the mission of the sons of God. They war and fight on our behalf, just to clear a space in the lower air to allow angels and ministering spirits to minister to the heirs of salvation. By all means we do need to put demons into subjection, this is part of our job on the earth. We do need to preach Jesus to the nations to complete the number for the grafting. We also need to realize that we are working in tandem with the heavenly sons of God and that they are violently and forcibly pressing the Kingdom of Heaven onto the earth. Yahweh Jesus Messiah, the leader of this violent assault on the kingdom of Satanas, is the one who will forcibly seize the redeemed. It will be a violent seizing off of the earth and into the air for those who are redeemed.
There is never a time that we should stop fighting. We are to push, pursue, and sweat, and not become soft. There is a spiritual battle going on, and we are part of it whether we recognize it or not. This is why the Kingdom of Heaven violently presses. The leader of the violence will harpazo the repentant. His name is Yahweh Jesus Messiah. We are in a war for the soul and spirit of every human being on the earth. Every human is destined for hades unless they believe on Jesus. We do not tend to live with this reality in mind, we see the pretty things in life and forget where we all are headed. But Jesus, the leader of the violent assault on the kingdom of Satanas, has purchased those who choose Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It takes an army to extract the humans who are unwittingly on the way to hades. We are that army.
