I’ve never observed 1 John 3:2 before in the context of the Rapture. “When He appears, we shall be like Him…” Sounds to me just like the translation of living believers in 1 Thess 4 and 1 Cor 15. Those who see Him at His 2nd Coming will certainly behold Him as He is–but, will not be translated into His likeness. Your thoughts ?
One more question, please ! Do you equate the ISIS buildup as prelude to the imminence of the Psalm 83 battle ?
In full, 1 John 3:2 reads as follows;
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
I agree that John had to be talking about the resurrection / rapture here because as you say when He returns to Earth the people alive at the time will see Him as He is but they will not be like Him.
When we meet Jesus in the clouds we will have been instantaneously changed from mortal to immortal and conformed to His likeness (Romans 8:29).
More and more, it’s looking to me like the goal of ISIS is to surround Israel and attack from all sides. Very similar to the plan outlined in Psalm 83 where it’s the nations who share a border with Israel who are involved.