Yes, as expected. :) That's the Greek work translated into the English as "caught up," as I'm sure you are aware. So that's in there, for sure, but if we look at that passage as a whole (specifically verses 14 through 17), we read the following (emphasis mine):Harpazo......1 Thes 4
- "through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep" (v.14)
- "we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep" (v.15)
- "the Lord Himself will descend from heaven... (a)nd the dead in Christ will rise first" (v.16)
- "we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord" (v.17)
Right, well, as for any kind of "removal" of those in Christ, see immediately above; we stay, and after the final Judgment, the New Heaven and New Earth is made a reality... all is made new, as God says in Revelation 21:5. It is important to note that God says there, "Behold, I am making all things new." He does not say anything about "making all new things," but again, rather, says He is renewing things. This has been the case since the Fall in Genesis 3. God's full intention and purpose has been to restore everything back to how He created it ~ "very good" (Genesis 1:31). This is what He promised Adam and Eve (and us) He would do by telling Satan, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel" (Genesis 3:15). This is the first proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, veiled as it may be.OK. You will have to expound.
As for 'harpazo,' that's translated actually to a phrase in English ~ 'will be caught up.' This is to be understood as a seizing, and in the sense that Jesus, in His return, will seize once and for all what is His, what Satan had claimed for himself. It is not a removal of any kind; that is not what 'harpazo' insinuates at all. So Jesus's return will certainly be rapturous, so to speak, but just a coming in final triumph, not a coming and going away. :)
Ultimately, though ~ after the final Judgment ~ there is a group of folks "removed," in a certain sense, but these are unbelievers, the unrepentant. Having been resurrected to judgment (John 5:29), they stand on Jesus's left during the Judgment, and they will hear the Lord say to them, "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels" and will "go away into eternal punishment" (Matthew 25:41-46). They will be "removed" from the New Heaven and New Earth in this way.
Grace and peace to you, TL (The Light). :)