What is the Rapture?
Although the word Rapture does not appear in our English Bible, it comes
from the Latin word "rapturo",
meaning to catch away, or snatch away,
(1 thessalonians 4:17, "caught up")
Very briefly, the Rapture is when Jesus returns in
the clouds to raise Christians who have died from the dead, and "catch up" living Christians instantly to meet them in the clouds.
The
fact of the Rapture of Christian believers is probably believed by most Bible believing Christians. However, when it will occur in
the order of prophetic events is sometimes
a thorny subject, and sadly it is this topic that sometimes causes churches to avoid
Bible
prophecy altogether, or any discussion about the Rapture.
Although the Rapture is hinted at elsewhere in Scripture, by far the
most detail is given
in the apostle Paul's two letters to the Thessalonians,
so it is not surprising that a proper understanding of
these letters is essential
to understand the subject.
Paul had a special affection for this church, and wanting to comfort them
as they were facing persecution, he gave them unparalleled detail of the second coming of Christ for believers.
We need also
to keep in mind that the verse and chapter divisions in our Bibles
are not in the original, but have been added to help us more
easily locate parts of God's word.
So the division of chapters 4 and 5 of first Thessalonians is probably misleading,
as Paul
has not changed the subject, but continues to give details of the Rapture.
But before
we look more closely at Thessalonians, let us look at some other
important passages.
Jesus Himself hinted at the Rapture
at the conclusion of His detailed End Time prophecy
in Luke chapter 21.
After warning his followers to be watchful, and
not be distracted by worldly and sinful living and the cares of this world, He said:
"Watch therefore, and pray always that you
may be counted worthy
to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to
stand before the Son of Man." (verse 36)
Also in Luke 17 and in Matthew 24, Jesus spoke of 2 people sleeping together, or working together, and "One will be taken and the
other left".
The apostle Paul also refers to the Rapture again, in his letter to the church at Corinth,
"Behold I tell you
a Mystery: We shall not all sleep,[die], but we shall all be changed_
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound,
and the dead in Christ will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."
(1 Cor 15: 51-52)
Let
us go back now to Paul's letters to the Thessalonian church, as we discussed earlier.
"But I do not want you to
be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, [died], lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we
believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so [just as Jesus rose] God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
For this we
say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the
coming of the Lord will by no means precede those
who are asleep.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of
God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the cloudsto meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
Therefore comfort one another with these words.
But concerning
the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.
For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of
the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when They say 'peace and safety!' then suddenly destruction comes upon Them, . . . and They shall
not escape. But You, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake You as a thief. . . . . .
For God did
not appoint us to wrath [the wrath of God during the tribulation] but to obtain salvation [by the Rapture] through our Lord Jesus
Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake [are alive when the Rapture occurs] or sleep,[and are raised to life]
we should
live together with Him."
(1 thessalonians 4:13- 5:10)
But in between Paul's first and second letter to the Thessalonian
church, false teachers had influenced them. Apparently even sending letters pretending they had come from Paul, causing them to be
discouraged into thinking the Rapture had already taken place.
So the apostle Paul writes to them again and says:
"Now brethren, concerning the
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him [the Rapture] we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled,
either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day
of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means;for that Day will not come
unless the falling away [apostasia] comes first,
[The Greek word "apostasia" simply means
departure. It could mean departure from the faith, or it could just as easily mean, departure (Rapture) to meet the Lord in the air.]
and
the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped,
so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. . . . .For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work;
only He who now restrains [the Holy Spirit] will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed".
(2
Thessalonians 2:1-8).
In conclusion.
There is disagreement about when the Rapture takes place. Before the Great
Tribulation and the rule
of Antichrist, or at the end, or some believe in the middle of the seven year Tribulation.
I believe
it is before the Tribulation for following reasons.
(1) Jesus implied believers would "escape these things and stand before the
Son of Man"
(2) The apostle paul wrote "God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our
Lord
Jesus Christ"
(3) If the Lord is to come as a thief to those who are not watchful, that would not be
possible if the Great Tribulation
had begun and Antichrist had been revealed.
All would know that the Lord would come in seven years,
and Jesus said "no one knows the
day nor the hour".
(4) God has in the past moved His faithful people to safety before He sends judgment (Noah and Lot). Jesus referred
to both of these men in His second coming address, so it seems reasonable to believe He will again remove His people before sending
the judgment of the Great Tribulation.
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For a detailed explanation on "the first Resurrection" from
the millennium page read below.
For some time I had some doubt that the Rapture would occur before The Great
Tribulation because
of some verses in Revelation chapter 20, where it tells us that "the first resurrection" includes people who die
for their faith in Jesus during the Great Tribulation. (Revelation 20:4-5). No doubt these are people who become believers as
a result of the faithful preaching of Jewish evangelists
after Israel turns to Jesus their Messiah.
To avoid confusion,
it should be understood that all believers, Old and New Testament, are included in "The First Resurrection" even though their resurrections
take place at different times. From God's point of view, true believers are all included in the "first resurrection".
Old
testament believers were raised just after Jesus was resurrected .
He is "the firstborn from the dead"
(Colossians 1:18).
No
one could be raised from the dead until Jesus had defeated death by living a sinless life
and dying in our place to pay the penalty
for our sin.
Then Old Testament believers were raised. "and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen
asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His Resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many."
(Matthew
27:52-53)
"When He ascended on high [Jesus, at His ascension] He led captivity captive" NKJV.
"HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST
OF CAPTIVES," NASB
(Ephesians 4:8).
They were "captive" in a place Jesus called "Abraham's bosom" (luke 16:22). To the dying
thief, Jesus also called it "Paradise" while He was on the cross, He said: "today you will be with Me in Paradise", (Luke 23:43).
Later that day Jesus would be in the grave, not in Heaven.
Although there was a great
gulf fixed between Paradise and Hades, they could communicate across that gulf, (see luke chapter 16), And Jesus went there while
His body was still in the grave, before He was resurrected, and preached to the spirits of the people, or possibly the
demon spirits, (sons of God, see Genesis 6:1-4), who were disobedient in Noah's day, "For Christ also suffered once for sins,
the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom alsoHe went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days
of Noah, while the ark was being prepared,"
(1 Peter 3:18-20).
When Noah was building the Ark, which took one hundred years
or more, he preached to the people to turn from their wickedness, but they would not listen to him.
God "saved Noah . . . a preacher
of righteousness, bringing in the flood
on the world of the ungodly;"
(2 Peter 2:5)
"In Christ all shall be made alive.
But each one in his own order; Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming."
(1 Corinthians
15:22-23).
The first resurrection includes:
(1) Old testament believers,
(2) The Christian believers with the
Raptured believers, before the Great Tribulation,
(3) Those who turn to Christ and believe during the Great Tribulation.
The
second resurrection only involves people who have rejected Christ and His offer and way of salvation. They will face the judgment
of God and be eternally separated from Him.
Until I was fully convinced that the first resurrection included
all true believers, I was unable to feel confident that the Rapture came before the Great Tribulation.
For that reason I felt
all this additional Scripture and detail was needed here.
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Much more could be written on this subject, and more
Scripture included, but for brevity and readability it has been kept as brief as practical.
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