Page 27 - The Rapture Question by John F. Walvoord

The Rapture Question: Revised and Enlarged Edition
Israel’s regathering and glory. In the New Testament, the use
of the olive tree as a figure in Romans 11 involves the three
stages: (1) Israel in the place of blessing; (2) Israel cut off and
the Gentiles in the place of blessing; (3) the Gentiles cut off
and Israel grafted in again. The present age and Israel’s time
of discipline and judgment coincide and constitute a pa­
renthesis in the divine program for Israel.
The ultimate proof of the teaching that the present age is
a parenthesis is in the positive revelation concerning the
church as the body of Christ and the related truths that reveal
the church to be an organism, a body of believers subject to
translation and being caught away to heaven. The church is
regarded as a bride being prepared for the bridegroom. These
distinctive truths establish the concept that the church is to be
in this dispensation only. As such, the church is distinguished
clearly from the saints who appear on earth during the time of
the Tribulation.
Mystery of the One Body
In seeking an answer to the question of a precise defini­
tion of the church as it exists in the present age, a major
contribution is provided in the New Testament mysteries
related to the church. While the church is never expressly
called a mystery in the New Testament, the term is used
of the distinctive elements of truth that concern the church.
In the apostolic period, there were mystery cults, which
were so called because their rites of initiation were mysteries
or secrets to those not in the cult. Initiation consisted of vari­
ous rites in which the novitiate was introduced to these mys­
teries. The word came, therefore, to be used of significant facts
once hidden but now revealed. As used of truths relating to the
church, the word mystery should not be considered as truth
that is incomprehensible or obscure but rather as truth once
hidden, i.e., in Old Testament times, but now revealed in the
New Testament. D. Miall Edwards correctly defined the word
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