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The Father’s House: John 14
July 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment
As Jesus is reclining at the table, He tells His Jewish disciples: “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, you may be also” (John 14:2-3 NASB).
The pretribbers teach that Jesus is now preparing a place for the saints in heaven, because when He comes back again at the time of the secret Rapture He will take His disciples to heaven and place them in new mansions to be with Him for the seven years of the Tribulation Period. But there are major problems with this teaching. Here are seven reasons why Jesus is not teaching a secret Rapture in this passage.
REASON ONE: This passage is not about a secret Rapture because the pretribbers are using strictly the literal method of interpretation when they should be using the figurative interpretation also.
The pretribbers are wanting to interpret this passage literally which they should do in most cases. I am all for the literal method of interpretation, but in this case Jesus was speaking figuratively. Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; an hour is coming when I will speak no more to you in figurative language, but will tell you plainly of the Father” (John 16:25; NASB). In this one conversation from John 14 to John 16, Jesus is speaking to His disciples in a “figurative language.” Therefore, we have to interpret this passage through a figurative interpretation along with the literal interpretation when it pertains.
Walvoord writing about John 14:2-3 takes the literal interpretation only: “Taken in its common understanding, the passage says that Christ will come for His disciples and take them to heaven to the Father’s house. Such an event is totally different from Christ’s coming to the earth to establish His kingdom.” (John Walvoord, The Rapture Question: Revised and Enlarged Edition, page 194.)
However, this passage does not say that Jesus will come to take the disciples to heaven, that is implied by the pretribbers. If it is true, then the disciples cannot get to heaven until the secret Rapture takes place. If that’s true, (and it’s not) where have they been for the last two thousand years, if not in heaven? Are they kept in another place waiting for the secret Rapture? No! Therefore, this passage has to be taken figuratively.
For example, verse 18, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (NASB). The disciples were not orphans in a literal sense, but only in a spiritual sense. Verse 23 says, “…We will come to him, and make Our abode with him” (NASB). The Father and Jesus have not literally come bodily to live in our homes have They? No, but figuratively and spiritually They have. John 15:1-10 says that Jesus is a vine and that we are the branches. Are you a branch? Is Jesus a vine? No! Jesus is speaking figuratively to His disciples on this night.
In other places Jesus refers to us as sheep, but we are not sheep are we? The literal method of interpretation does allow for “figures of speech,” but the pretribbers are not even considering the figurative interpretation. However, the figurative interpretation has to be used in this passage. And when it’s used, it changes the pretribbers literal meaning “the Father’s house” to a spiritual meaning: “the Father’s family.”
This passage (John 14:2-3) is not about a secret Rapture because Jesus is using figurative language to describe the Body of Christ (His church) to His disciples possibly for the first time.
Instead of these two verses describing Jesus coming two thousand years later to secretly Rapture His disciples to the Father’s house for seven years during the Tribulation Period, Jesus fulfills these verses by coming in the power of the Holy Spirit some weeks later at Pentecost and starting the church. He then will abide inside them forever. Jesus is speaking of indwelling His disciples with the Holy Spirit. “I will come again” means indwelling His disciples. Jesus is teaching this theme in the rest of His discourse.
John 14:16-18, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever– 17 the Spirit of truth…for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (NIV).
John 14:26, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (NASB).
John 15:26 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me” (NASB).
John 16:7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you” (NASB).
John 17:22 “…that they all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst love Me”(NASB).
This new spiritual concept of “Christ in you” was taught here by Jesus figuratively and literally, but the disciples did not understand it until the day of Pentecost or later. We understand it as the mystery of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the mystery of the many membered Body of Christ, which is taught throughout Paul writings. “…this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27; NIV).
“For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people” (2 Cor. 6:16; NIV). We are in the Father’s family.
REASON THREE: This passage (John 14:2-3) is not a secret Rapture because the word “house” means “family.” This gives the passage a completely different interpretation: the Father’s family.
Verse 2: “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places” (NASB). Paul teaches that we are God’s household being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. Paul describes God’s family (house) like this:
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow-citizens with the saints, [Israel] and are of God’s household, having been built upon the foundations of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit (Eph. 2:19-22; NASB).
We are members of God’s family, His body, through the Spirit. “In My Father’s house,” the word “house” has the meaning of “God’s household [a family].” The words house and household are oikia and oikeios in the Greek. The words mean “an abode, family, own household or own family” (Strong’s). In other words, those of His own household or of His own family. We are of God’s own household in the Spirit. The meaning of the word “house” has more to do with God’s family or people than an actual literal house or a place in heaven. You are maybe thinking, “The author is spiritualizing these literal verses.” However, remember that Jesus is speaking both figuratively and literally throughout His discourse that night, and the Greek word “oikia” has a double meaning which can be interpreted literally either “house” or “family.”
“House” in this verse was never intended to be a literal building. It should be used as it is in Hebrews 3:5. “Now Moses was faithful in all His house…” (NASB). “His house” refers to God’s people. And in Heb. 3:6, “but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house whose house we are…” (NASB). Here we are called a house. You are God’s house. Paul makes this clearer in 2 Cor. 5:1, referring to our bodies as “houses.” “For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down…”(NASB). Are you a literal house? No. Are you a figurative house? Yes. Here are some other verses that use “house” as a family. In 2 Tim. 1:16, Paul writes, “The Lord grant mercy to the house [family] of Onesiphorus…” (NASB). “All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household” (Phil. 4:22; NASB).
Does the Father have a house? “Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest?” (Isaiah 66:1; NASB) No house according to this verse. God is a Spirit. He doesn’t need a house, but He talks to us in a figurative language so we will understand things about Him in human terms.
This phrase “the house of Israel” is used over a hundred times in the Bible. There is no literal house of Israel, but God uses the word “house” to represent His people. “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah“ (Jer. 31:31; NIV).
The Bible translators should have translated “oikia” as “family” because there is not another reference to a literal “house” in heaven in the rest of Jesus’ discourse, but there are many references to a literal “family.” For example, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (v. 18; NASB). Jesus is the eternal Father of the family (Isaiah 9:6). “…We will come to him, and make Our abode with him” (v. 23; NASB). The Father and Jesus dwell in us by the Holy Spirit for an earthly family. “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:7; NASB). Jesus and the Father are the family providers.
Even thou “house” means the same as “family” here in this passage, it should have been translated “family” because it then would not have been misinterpreted so easily with mansions in heaven. But when you consider the context, “In My Father’s house” can only mean “in My Father’s family” or spiritual house, because we are His Family.
REASON FOUR: This passage (John 14:2-3) does not imply a secret Rapture because the word “mansion” means “abode,” not a literal building in heaven. The Greek word “mone” for “dwelling places” or “mansions” in the KJV or “abode” in the NASB is used only twice in the Bible, here in verse 2 and in John 14:23. The words “dwelling places” or “mansions” should be translated “abode” in verse 2, because Jesus and the Father have come to abide within us according to verse 23 where Jesus said, “We will come to him [or you], and make Our abode with him [you]“ (NASB). In verse 2, the word “mansion” in the King James Version could and should have been translated as “abode” because that is how it’s used in verse 23. They both have the same meaning, but when you use the word “mansion” it makes us think of houses instead of the Holy Spirit indwelling our bodies.
In the Father’s family (the Church, God’s family, His people, His body) there are many dwelling places, or many abodes, for the Father to dwell. Abodes can also mean “the act of staying” which is what the Father and Jesus do when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. The main topic that Jesus tells His disciples this night is that Jesus and the Father were coming to make their abode (mansion) in them. They were coming to stay within Their people, Their family.
We know and understand this as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit which automatically puts us into the family of God, the body of Christ. This was a completely new concept to the disciples and this gives a completely different meaning to this passage!
REASON FIVE This passage (John 14:2-3) is not a secret Rapture because it contradicts what other passages tell us about heaven. We are told to look for a literal city in heaven, not the Father’s house. For example:
For he [Abraham] was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God…16 Instead, they were longing for a better country–a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them… HEB 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God…13:14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. (Heb. 11:10; 16; 12:22; 13:14; NIV)
The writer of Hebrews is telling us, “the church,” to look for a city when we die, not the Father’s house in heaven. When did Abraham and the rest of the saints receive this city? The Old Testament saints were kept in a holding place until Jesus completed the sacrifice for their sins. Then He took them to heaven. Can you imagine the look on their faces as they walked down streets of gold looking for their new homes in the city of God? It must have been incredible sight!
Here are some contemporary saints who claim to have been to this city. They describe a city, not the Father’s house. For example, Deborah O’Donnell had a heavenly experience and she wrote, “As I was pulled out and up into the air, I saw that heaven was like a city. I could see a wall around it, and I could look into it, as if I were viewing it from an airplane.” (Rita Bennett, To Heaven & Back, page 112.)
Notice here that heaven is like a city, not one big house. A city has many individual building and streets like our earthly cities do. Here is another example of individual buildings in heaven:
The architecture of heaven was designed and built in eternity past by the eternal God. In one part I saw what looked like an entire block of the city of heaven. The buildings were very large, and across the top of each was a huge, impressive crown made of many jewels. I don’t know how many people occupied those grand buildings because I didn’t go inside any of them. But they were all stately and spacious, far beyond anything you have ever seen on earth. (Mary K. Baxter with DR. T. L. Lowery, A Divine Revelation Of Heaven, pages 97-98.)
Notice in this description, there are individual buildings. In both of these books, heaven is described like a planet much like our own with lakes, streams, mountains, trees, grass, flowers, with happy people living in houses. In another place, Mary Baxter writes, “However, on one of the trips, I saw beautiful houses and mansions.” (Mary K. Baxter with DR. T. L. Lowery, A Divine Revelation Of Heaven, page 156.)
These descriptions of buildings in heaven are a lot like what Jesse Duplantis describes when he went to heaven as he told it in his DVD. He describes getting out of a machine that took him to heaven and meeting Abraham who greeted the people who came to heaven because we are Abraham’s seed. In the back ground of heaven, he could see a large building which he claims is the Throne Room. On the way to the Throne Room, he met people who invited him into their houses. (A man and a woman.) He says the man had a house in the city and one in the country. He goes into these houses and inspects them. He walks down streets of gold. When Jesse meets the Lord, he says, “And I asked the Lord, you know this place looks a lot like earth…” An angel takes Jesse to his future house and he describes the furniture in his house. Jesse says he has a fountain in his front yard of a golden eagle with its wings spread with water coming out of its mouth. After talking to Jesus and it is time to go back to the earth, the Lord tells the angel to take Jesse by the way of the mountains because, “Jesse likes mountains.” (Jesse Duplantis, Close Encounters Of The God Kind DVD, Special Edition, Double Disc. Jesse also has a book.)
In all three of these books, people see a city with individual buildings where people live. Heaven resembles the earth as far as sky, mountains, lakes, streams, trees, buildings, and streets. None of these people describe a huge house, “the Father’s house” with millions of mansions inside of it. The Father’s house is the “family” of God–the Body of Christ who dwell in the city of God when they die.
Could “My Father’s house” be the “new Jerusalem” which comes after the millennium in Revelation 21. No, for three reasons. (1) This building is called the new Jerusalem, not the Father’s house. (2) The new Jerusalem comes after the millennium. (3) This new Jerusalem is completely different from the city in heaven because it will not have a temple in it. “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (Rev. 21:22; NIV). The city in heaven now has a temple. “…he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. 12 He…entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11-12; NIV).
Therefore, “the Father’s house” is not a literal house with millions of mansions inside of it like the pretribbers want you to believe. The Father’s house is a family of people who will enjoy the city of God in heaven until they come back for the resurrection at the public coming. The city in heaven existed before Abraham and the “new Jerusalem” will exist after the millennium.
This passage (John 14:2-3) is not a secret Rapture because “place” in this passage mean a “spot” in the family. If you have a “spot” in a line, you have a “place” in a line.
Jesus continues in verse 2, “for I go to prepare a place for you” (NASB). Jesus prepares a place for us in His family by dying for our sins and by sending the Holy Spirit to indwell His family on earth. “Place” can be interpreted as “a spot.” He’s going to “prepare a place [spot] for you” by taking His blood and putting it on the mercy seat in heaven, so we can be saved and enter heaven some day. Until that sacrifice was made, no one was saved or has a place or spot in heaven. Paul writes that Jesus “…raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6; NASB).
REASON SEVEN: This passage (John 14:2-3) is not a secret Rapture because Jesus fulfilled this passage two thousand years ago when He came back first physically and then spiritually. There is nothing more about this passage to be fulfilled.
Verse 3: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (NASB). Jesus died, was resurrected, went to heaven, then came back to the disciples. I will come again, in John 14:2-3 has already been fulfilled.
We already discussed the spiritual fulfillment of “I will come again,” being filled with the Holy Spirit so we won’t discuss it except to show you the verses: 3, 16, 17, 20, 23, and 26. First Corinthians 3:16 says, “Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (NASB) You are God’s mansion. So the spiritual fulfillment of “I will come again” was fulfilled two thousand years ago at Pentecost.
The physical fulfillment of “I will come again” is when Jesus came back bodily three days after His death. Sometime after His resurrection, Jesus showed Himself to Mary, all of the disciples, and then to 500 other brethren. The physical fulfillment verses are 3, 18, 28, 29, and John 16:22-23.
Jesus clearly taught a physical coming after three days, in order to get the disciples to believe in Him. “You heard that I said to you, `I go away, and I will come to you.’… And now I have told you before it comes to pass, that when it comes to pass, you may believe” (John 14:28-29; NASB). Jesus came back physically three days later to get the disciples to believe and He told them this before hand. These verses are the fulfillment of John 14:2-3 because Jesus said, “You heard that I said to you, `I go away, and I come to you” (NASB). Jesus was restating what He had already said in verses 2 and 3 to show that He was coming right back after His death.
Another reason why He was coming back in three days was to receive them unto Himself. Once His blood was poured out on the mercy seat in heaven, He came back to “receive you [us] to Myself” (V. 3; NASB). It was important that His disciples see Him glorified and for them to realize He was God. And it was important for Jesus to receive us to Myself–too show us how much He loved us. He wanted the whole world to hear about this wonderful gospel.
After His resurrection, the disciples ate with Him, touched Him, talked with Him, and He gave them instructions to wait in Jerusalem for His spiritual coming with the Holy Spirit. He did this so they would believe and carry His gospel to the ends of the earth. Therefore, Jesus fulfilled John 14:2-3 a few days after His death.
“…I go away, and I will come to you…I have told you before it comes to pass, that when it comes to pass, you may believe” (NASB). It came to pass; they finally believed when they touched His pierced side and the nail prints in His hands. Therefore, these verses have been fulfilled literally, physically, figuratively, and spiritually two thousand years ago.
”In My Father’s house [family, the body of Christ] are many dwelling places [abodes, people to live in]; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place [spot in the family] for you. And if I go and prepare a place [spot in the family] for you, I will come again [physically and spiritually], and receive you to Myself; that where I am [in the Spirit, in His body, and in heavenly places], you may be also.” (NASB)
Peter asked the Lord, “Lord, where are you going?’ Jesus replied, ‘Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later’” (John 13:36; NIV). Peter followed the Lord to heaven when he died and is living in the city of God. He will be resurrected to rule and reign on this earth (Rev. 5:10) with Jesus when He returns. Jesus is not talking about a secret Rapture in these verses. The pretribbers have taken them completely out of context. The Disciples are living in heaven right now. They are not waiting around on clouds some where waiting for the secret rapture so they can get their mansions in heaven. Therefore, John 14:2-3 has been completely fulfilled two thousand years ago. There is nothing more to fulfill.
In the pretribbers three primary secret Rapture passages, there are nineteen reasons that definitively point to a public coming, not a secret Rapture like the pretribbers teach.
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