Elijah ascending to heaven in a fiery chariot.

Could it be that the rapture of the church is a bit different from how most Christians imagine it?

It is a scriptural fact that at least some angels faithful to God utilize advanced technology. They probably don't have to have it in many cases, but they use it in order to supplement or enhance their abilities. Consider the angel who guarded the entrance to the Garden of Eden and the tree of life after Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden (Genesis 3:22-24). Did he absolutely have to have a flaming sword? What kind of weapon was that, anyway-a light saber? Why didn't the angel just wave his hand in order to prevent access to the tree of life? Could it be that he actually needed that sword?

Genesis 3:22-24

And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Could it be that the angels who were flying a sky chariot with fire all around it and who apprehended Elijah and took him to heaven, actually needed a vehicle capable of flying?

2 Kings 2:11-12

And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and He cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.

The Bible speaks of angels walking (Genesis 19:1-3) and flying (Genesis 28:12; John 1:51; Revelation 14:6), but perhaps a vehicle gets certain angels where they want to go a little faster, just as an automobile gets people where they need to go a little faster, even though they don't absolutely have to have one, since they can always walk. Nevertheless isn't it true that technology is the natural expression of intelligence in the universe? I acknowledge that these incredibly powerful, ultraintelligent beings could actually use something as antiquated as a literal chariot if they wanted to, but I think it's more likely it was another type of vehicle, and its description is given through the eyes of someone who knew of no other type of vehicle. That's why the power moving the chariot is referred to as a horse, albeit made of fire.

Now spirit horses in particular are actually mentioned in several places in scripture, and I see no reason why the inhabitants of the first heaven (directly in the upper atmosphere of the Earth, dimensionally shifted from our perception), wouldn't ride them, especially when going into battle, just as we do in this world in certain places, though longer journeys probably require something a bit faster. Most likely the majority of the visions of spirit horses that are actually horses, and not symbolic imagery, are from horses in the first heaven right above our heads (2 Kings 6:17-could refer to both spacecraft and spirit horses, just as the armies of Earth may include soldiers mounted on horses and an assortment of vehicles). I doubt angels riding spirit horses cross the entire universe, however, though a spirit horse might have a few tricks up his sleeve.