The Rapture amuses, confuses and also encourages many people, depending upon their individual level of knowledge and familiarity.
While the word does not actually appear in the Bible, the concept most certainly does. It comes from a term in the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible, meaning to be “caught up.” Specifically, it comes from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, which says believers who are alive at the time of this event will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air:
“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as indeed the rest of mankind do, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead, so also God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who remain, 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. Therefore, comfort one another with these words.”
1 Corinthians 15:51-53 tells us “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
After the last receptive Gentile becomes saved, at “the fullness of the Gentiles” which is referenced in Romans 11:25, there will follow an instant collection of all living believers who will not experience death.
These verses speak of an imminent prophetic event, when believers will be transformed into immortal bodies prepared for eternity and instantly removed from the earth. The Greek word utilized to describe this transformation in English translates to metamorphosis, which is a profound change in form from one stage to the next in the existence of an organism, such as from the caterpillar to the pupa and from the pupa out of the cocoon/chrysalis to the adult butterfly.
There are different opinions as to when the Rapture will occur on the prophetic timeline, but only one is the most Biblically consistent, given an understanding of the dispensational nature of the Bible. “Dispensational” means that God revealed things in the Bible as He wanted, to whom He wanted and when He wanted. (Deuteronomy 29:29) Things such as temple worship, sacrifices, tithing, etc. which applied to people under the Law and pointed to the need for the coming Messiah, do not apply to people in the modern day era of Grace on this side of the cross. If you try to blend Law and Grace, you will easily become confused as they each were given to different people in different times and were never meant to be mixed together, as they are incompatible with each other.
Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and David did not know of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus for salvation, because it had not yet been revealed to them. They each knew progressively more than their forefathers regarding the prophesized Messiah, but only in the incremental release of knowledge given to them through Scripture.
The Apostle Paul was the only one chosen to actually receive the Holy Spirit inspired revelation of this previously unknown mystery of the Rapture. He also happens to be God’s chosen Apostle to the Gentiles (Galatians 2:7-9) and the one who revealed our current age of God’s Grace by faith alone in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.
The Great Tribulation is the prophesied seven year period of God’s upcoming wrath and judgement. It was first described in the book of Daniel and graphically detailed throughout the book of Revelation. The differing views as to the timing of the Rapture include before the Tribulation, during the Tribulation and after the Tribulation. Part of the confusion arises from people blending the two separate parts of Jesus’ second coming: it begins in the air (described above in 1 Thessalonians 4:17) and concludes on the ground, as described in Zechariah 14:4, when His feet will physically stand on the Mount of Olives to usher in the Millennial Kingdom.
Given that God has repeatedly stated that believers will not be subject to His wrath, the most sound view for the timing for the Rapture is that we believers will be removed prior to the Tribulation, which is called the Pre-Tribulation view. 2 Thessalonians 2:5-8 explains the timing for the appearance of the Anti-Christ. It tells believers to not be deceived and that the Anti-Christ won’t be revealed until the Great Restrainer (the Holy Spirit) is taken away. The Holy Spirit was first promised by Jesus as His replacement on earth in John 16:5-15 and is described as believers’ Helper, Comforter, Advocate and Intercessor. Only the Apostle Paul wrote about the Body of Christ, which is the full collection of Grace-age believers. 1 Corinthians 3:16 says that members of the Body of Christ are actually indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Only after the Grace-age believers are removed (Raptured) will the Anti-Christ then be revealed.
Law and Grace simply do not mix. Legalism (Law/works) is clearly reinstituted during the Tribulation. (Point in case is the Jewish Temple back in full operation.) Also, there is no mention of Grace (salvation by faith alone and not works) during the entire Tribulation period. When God repeats something, it is wise for us to listen and believe. Here is what He says about believers not being subject to His wrath:
Romans 5:9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
1 Thessalonians 1:8-10 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia–your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore, we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead–Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 2:9 God preserved Noah and rescued Lot, so…then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment…
Revelation 3:10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.
There are some instances in scripture, where we are given glimpses of something similar to a Rapture. In the Old Testament, both Enoch and Elijah did not suffer death, but were miraculously removed by God from this earth. Genesis 5:24 says that God took Enoch. 2 Kings 2:11 tells us that Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. In the New Testament, John was shown what was to come after He was taken up to Heaven, prior to being shown the Tribulation. Revelation 4:1 states “After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”
Proponents of a mid-Tribulation Rapture confuse the singular “trumpet of God” mentioned above in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 for the assembly of the saints with one of the seven trumpets, blown by angels in Revelation 8-11 for judgments.
Some critics of the Rapture have said it is a relatively new concept from the early 1800’s. However, since it is described in scripture and ancient manuscripts from the early church also described it, that argument is easily dismissed.
Please don’t confuse this message. Believers are already increasingly suffering persecution, discrimination and intolerance from this non-believing world. However, there is a BIG difference between man’s wrath and the Wrath of God. While it is possible for man’s wrath to be brought against believers, God already assumed His own wrath for us on the cross at Calvary. As pointed out above, He has said that we will be saved from, rescued from and not appointed to suffer His wrath. Do you think that you should consider believing God?
If a person says they know they won’t be here after the Rapture occurs, it isn’t because they are being smug or even just wishful thinking…it is from their own confidence that they are saved, purely by their faith alone in Christ’s death, burial and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins. That is the only way out! The Creator entered into His creation and lived the sinless life (which none of us can do on our own) to serve as our atoning sacrifice. He willingly accepted our deserved penalty of death. As a result, true Christians are not merely sinners…we are forgiven sinners! We should try not to sin, but as we live in a fallen world, it is inevitable that we will. People who may say that they no longer sin are fooling themselves and the Truth is not in them, according to God in 1 John 1:8.
Maranatha!