One begins to look down on one's condition from above as it were in the same way that the Book of Revelation speaks to churches in persecution by taking believers up into heavenly realms through symbolic discourse. (firstthings.com)
And nothing was more obvious than the enormous contrast between the earthly realm, with its corruptible beings and unpredictable changes, and the eternal heavenly realm, with its luminous bodies moving in circles that have no beginning or end. (firstthings.com)
Long before he produced his wildly popular Left Behind novels, for example, he had advocated for a «pre-tribulation rapture» perspective: a reading of «Bible prophecy» that sees us as presently in «the end - times,» with a coming seven - year «tribulation» period that will begin soon after the true Christians are taken up into the heavenly realm. (firstthings.com)