The rapture is a state or experience of being carried away. Also the rapture appears to have little or no connection with any eschatological event. The English word “rapture” comes from the Latin word rapio which means to seize or snatch in relation to an ecstasy of spirit or the actual removal from one place to another. The Greek word from which we take the term rapture is harpazo which translated means “caught up”. The Rapture of the church means the carrying away of the church from earth to heaven.
There are five components of the rapture
- The return of Christ, Christ Himself will return for His people, there will be a shout of command and the trumpet of God will summon the dead in Christ to their resurrection as well as sounding a warning to those who have rejected Him and to those who have missed the rapture
- A resurrection, at this time only the dead in Christ will be raised. Which means believers since the day of Pentecost. Both groups the dead and living will experience their respective changes in a moment, the entire procedure will be instantaneous.
- Rapture, only living believers are raptured, this means they will be caught up into the Lords presence
- A reunion, the reunion will be with the Lord and with the loved ones who have died.
- A reassurance, the truth of the rapture is both comfort and encouragement for us
Doctrine of Imminency
Imminent is the next expectation and it is not to be confused with immanent which means God is not only transcendent or far above us, but He is always with us. Nor should it be confused with eminent which is a title of honor. Believers are taught to expect Christ from heaven at any moment. Titus 2:13 states as we wait for the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior, Jesus the Messiah. Heb 9:28 states so the Messiah was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people. And he will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly wait for him. 1 Thess. 1:10 states and to wait for his Son whom he raised from the dead to come back from heaven. This Jesus is the one who rescues us from the coming wrath. Imminency should result in a victorious and purified life, 1 John 3:2,3 states Dear friends, we are now God’s children, but what we will be like has not been revealed yet. We know that when the Messiah is revealed, we will be like him, because we will see him as he is. 3And everyone who has this hope based on him keeps himself pure, just as the Messiah is pure. The expectation of some were so strong that they had stopped working and had to be exhorted to return to their jobs, 2 Thess. 3: 10-12 states While we were with you, we gave this order: “If anyone doesn’t want to work, he shouldn’t eat.” 11We hear that some of you are living in idleness. You are not busy working—you are busy interfering in other people’s lives! 12We order and encourage such people by the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.
Rapture vs Second Coming- Two Events
| Rapture | Second Coming |
| Translation of all believers | No translation at all |
| Translated saints go to heaven | Translated saints return to earth |
| Earth not judged | Earth judged; righteousness established |
| Imminent, any moment signless | Follows definite predicted signs |
| Not in old testament | Predicted often in old testament |
| Believers only | Affects all men on earth |
| Before the day of wrath | Concluding the day of wrath |
| No reference to Satan | Satan is bound |
| Christ comes for His own | Christ comes with His own |
| He comes in the air | He comes to the earth |
| He claims His bride | He comes with His bride |
| Only His own see | Every eye shall see Him |
| Tribulation begins | Millennial kingdom begins |
Rapture vs Second Coming- Passages
| Rapture | Passage |
| John 14:1-3 | “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. 2There are many rooms in my Father’s house. If there weren’t, I wouldn’t have told you that I am going away to prepare a place for you, would I? 3And since I’m going away to prepare a place for you, I’ll come back again and welcome you into my presence, so that you may be where I am. |
| Philippians 3:20-21 | Our citizenship, however, is in heaven, and it is from there that we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. 21He will change our unassuming bodies and make them like his glorious body through the power that enables him to bring everything under his authority. |
| Colossians 3:4 | When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed, then you, too, will be revealed with him in glory. |
| 1 Thessalonians 1:10 | and to wait for his Son whom he raised from the dead to come back from heaven. This Jesus is the one who rescues us from the coming wrath. |
| 1 Thessalonians 2:19 | After all, who is our hope, joy, or reason for rejoicing in the presence of our Lord Jesus at his coming? It is you, isn’t it? 20Yes, you are our glory and joy! |
| 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 | But we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve like other people who have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus God will bring those who have died with him. 15For we declare to you what the Lord has told us to say: We who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have died. 16With a shout of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of God’s trumpet, the Lord himself will come down from heaven, and the dead who belong to the Messiah will rise first. 17Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18So then, encourage one another with these words. |
| 1 Thessalonians 5:9 | For God has not destined us to received wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, |
| 1 Timothy 6:14 | to keep these commands stainlessly and blamelessly until the appearance of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah. |
| 2 Timothy 4:1 | In the presence of God and the Messiah Jesus, who is going to judge those who are living and those who are dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly appeal to you |
| Hebrews 9:28 | so the Messiah was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people. And he will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly wait for him. |
| 1 Peter 1:13 | Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep a clear head, and set your hope completely on the grace to be given you when Jesus, the Messiah, is revealed. |
| 1 John 2:28-3:2 | Even now, little children, abide in him. Then, when he appears, we will have confidence and will not turn away from him in shame when he comes. 29Since you know that he is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been fathered by God. See what kind of love the Father has given us: We are called God’s children—and that is what we are! For this reason the world does not recognize us, because it did not recognize him, either. 2Dear friends, we are now God’s children, but what we will be like has not been revealed yet. We know that when the Messiah is revealed, we will be like him, because we will see him as he is. |
| Revelation 3:10 | Because you have obeyed my command to endure, I will keep you from the hour of testing that is coming to the whole world to test those living on the earth. |
| Second Coming | Passages |
| Daniel 7:9-14 | “I kept on watching until the Ancient of Days was seated. His clothes were white, like snow, and the hair on his head was like pure wool. His throne burned with flaming fire, and its wheels burned with fire. 10A river of fire flowed out from before him. Thousands upon thousands were serving him, with millions upon millions waiting before him. The court sat in judgment, and record books were unsealed. 11“I continued watching because of the audacious words that the horn was speaking. I kept observing until the animal was killed and its body destroyed and given over to burning fire. 12Now as to the other animals, their authority was removed, but they were granted a reprieve from execution for an appointed period of time.” 13“I continued to observe the night vision—and look!—someone like the Son of Man was coming, accompanied by heavenly clouds. He approached the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14To him dominion was bestowed, along with glory and a kingdom, so that all peoples, nations, and languages are to serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion—it will never pass away—and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” |
| Zechariah 14:1-15 | “Look! A day is coming for the LORD, when your plunder will be divided among you. 2I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem, to lay siege against it. The city will be captured, the houses will be ransacked, the women raped, and half of the city will go into exile, but the remaining people will not be cut off from the city. 3Then the LORD will go out to battle against those nations, waging war as in a day of battle. 4His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. Then the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a very large valley, with half of the mountain moving toward the north and half toward the south. 5You will run away through my mountain valley, because the valley of the mountains will extend as far as Azal. You will flee, as you fled from the earthquake during the reign of King Uzziah of Judah. And so the LORD my God will come, and all his holy ones will be accompanying you.” 6“At that time, the daylight will be neither bright nor overcast. 7It will be a unique day, known only to the LORD—neither daytime nor nighttime—and it will come about at twilight there will be light! 8At that time, flowing waters will run perennially from Jerusalem, half toward the Dead Sea and half to the Mediterranean Sea. 9The LORD will be king over all the earth at that time. There will be one LORD, and his name the only one. 10The entire land will become like the Arabah plain from Gebaito Rimmon, south of Jerusalem. It will be raised up and inhabited where it is, from the Gate of Benjamin to the First Gate, then to the Corner Gate, to the Hanane Tower, and to the king’s winepresses. 11Peoplej will live there, there will be no more destruction, and Jerusalem will be safely inhabited.” God’s Judgment on Jerusalem’s Attackers 12“This will be the plague with which the LORD inflicts all of the people who have attacked Jerusalem: he will cause their flesh to rot away, even while they’re standing on their feet. He will cause their eyes to rot away in their sockets, and their tongues to rot away in their mouths. 13At that time, they will be stricken with a terrible panic from the LORD. Everyone will attack each other. 14Judah, too, will fight at Jerusalem. Then the wealth of the surrounding nations will be gathered up: gold, silver, and clothing in great abundance. 15A similar plague will also strike horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all of the animals in those camps.” |
| Matthew 13:41 | The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom everything that causes others to sin and those who practice lawlessness |
| Matthew 24:15-31 | “So when you see the destructive desecration, mentioned by the prophet Daniel, standing in the Holy Place (let the reader take note),g 16then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17Anyone who’s on the housetop must not come down to get what is in his house, 18and anyone who’s in the field must not turn back to get his coat. 19“How terrible it will be for women who are pregnant or who are nursing babies in those days! 20Pray that it may not be in winter or on a Sabbath when you flee, 21because at that time there will be great suffering,h the kind that hasn’t happened from the beginning of the world until now and certainly won’t ever happen again. 22If those days hadn’t been limited, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be limited. 23“At that time, if anyone says to you, ‘Look! Here’s the Messiah!’ or ‘There he is!’, don’t believe it, 24because false messiahs and false prophets will appear and display great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25Remember, I’ve told you this beforehand. 26So if they say to you, ‘Look! He’s in the wilderness,’ don’t go out looking for him. And if they say, ‘Look! He’s in the storeroom,’ don’t believe it, 27because just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28Wherever there’s a corpse, there the vultures will gather. 29“Immediately after the troubles of those days, ‘The sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of heaven will be shaken loose.’ 30Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all ‘the tribes of the land will mourn’ when they see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31He’ll send out his angels with a loud trumpet blast, and they’ll gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to another.” |
| Matthew 26:64 | Jesus told him, “You have said so. Nevertheless I tell you, from now on you will see ‘the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power’ and ‘coming on the clouds of heaven.’” |
| Acts 3:19-21 | Therefore, repent and turn to him to have your sins blotted out, 20so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and so that he may send you Jesus, whom he appointed long ago to be the Messiah. 21He must remain in heaven until the time of universal restitution, which God announced long ago through the voice of his holy prophets. |
| 2 Thessalonians 2:8 | Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will destroy with the breath of his mouth, rendering him powerless by the manifestation of his coming. |
| Revelation 1:7 | Look! He is coming in the clouds.Every eye will see him,even those who pierced him,and all the tribes of the earth will mournbecause of him. |
| Revelation 19:11-18 | Then I saw heaven standing open, and there was a white horse! Its rider is named Faithful and True. He administers justice and wages war righteously. 12His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many royal crowns. He has a name written on him that nobody knows except himself. 13He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. 14The armies of heaven, wearing fine linen, white and pure, follow him on white horses. 15A sharp sword comes out of his mouth to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod and tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16On his robe that covers his thigh he has a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS 17Then I saw an angel standing in the sun. He cried out in a loud voice to all the birds flying overhead, “Come! Gather for the great supper of God. 18Eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of commanders, the flesh of warriors, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, both free and slaves, both unimportant and important.” |
The Jewish Wedding
-The Ketubah, Payment of the purchase price and then being set apart
-Bridegroom departs to Father’s House, prepares room addition and bride prepares for his
imminent return
-Surprise gathering, Huppah, Wedding
-Seven-day marriage supper
Marriage Fulfilled
- Covenant established, 1 Cor. 11:25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
- Purchase price, 1 Cor. 6:19-20 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
- Reminded of the covenant 1 Cor. 11:25-26
- Bridegroom left for the father’s house Acts 1:10-11 they were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
- Escort to accompany Him upon His return to gather His Bride, 1 Thess. 4:16-17 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Seven “Raptures” in Scripture
Enoch, Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” a For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. Genesis 5:24 Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
Elijah, 2 Kings 2:11-12 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.
Jesus, Mark 16:19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Revelation 12:5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” a And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.
Philip, Acts 8:39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing
Paul, 2 Cor. 12:2-4 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell.
Body of Christ, 1 Thess. 4:17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
John, Revelation 4:1 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.”
The Restrainer Removed
God promises in Hebrews 13:5-6 Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for God has said, “I will never leave you or abandon you.” 6Hence we can confidently say, “The Lorde is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me? But in 2 Thessalonians 2:5-12 states Don’t you remember that I repeatedly told you about these things when I was still with you? 6You know what it is that is now holding him back, so that he will be revealed when his time comes. 7For the secret of this lawlessness is already at work, but only until the person now holding it back gets out of the way. 8Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will destroy with the breath of his mouth, rendering him powerless by the manifestation of his coming. 9The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the power of Satan. He will use every kind of power, including miraculous signs, lying wonders, 10and every type of evil to deceive those who are dying, those who refused to love the truth that would save them. 11For this reason, God will send them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie. 12Then all who have not believed the truth but have taken pleasure in unrighteousness will be condemned. Currently the Spirit of God is restraining and once that restrainer is removed the lawless one will not be held back. Certainly one can conclude the only way not to be abandon would be to be caught up with the Spirit.
Pre-Tribulation Eschatology
One of the myths today is that pre-tribulation rapture is a fairly new concept credited only to the left behind books series. But this has been around since Paul wrote about it and is being continued to be written about:
- Epistle of Barnabas in 100 A.D.
- Irenaeus, in Against Heresies
- Hippolytus, a disciple of Irenaeus, 2nd Century
- Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho
- Ephraem, the Syrian, 4th Century
Ephraem of Nisibis (306-373 A.D.) stated “For all the saints and Elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins”, in his writing “on the Last times, the Antichrist, and the end of the World” these concepts have been around for thousands of years but one day they were all disappear into the clouds.
Amillennial Problems
The amillennials do not take a literal view of these events, they allegorize them as figures of speech which brings up a few issues
- The Messianic promises throughout the Old Testament
- Destiney of Israel in God’s Covenants
- Numerous reconfirmations throughout the New Testament
- Denies the New Testament teaching of Imminency
- Requires the Church during the 70th week of Daniel
- Israel and the Church mutually exclusive
- Church experiences God’s Wrath
- How can the Bride come with Him
- Who will populate the Millennium
- Who are the “sheep and Goat” judgment of Matthew 25
- How can the virgins of Matthew 25 buy oil without the mark of the beast
Acts 17:11
These people were more receptive than those in Thessalonica. They were very willing to receive the message, and every day they carefully examined the Scriptures to see if those things were so.
Each individual is responsible to do their own homework on these issues to do their own studies to come to their own conclusions there are too many resources available to us not to.
References
Berkhof, Louis, Systematic Theology, (Grand Rapids, Ml: Wm B Erdmans Publishing Co, 1996)
ISBN: 978-0-8028-3820-9
Ryrie, Charles C., Basic Theology, (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1999).
ISBN: 0-8024-2734-0
Missler, Chuck. n.d. “Prophecy 101”, Koinonia InstituteInternational Standard Version. (2011). (Mk 5:1–13). Yorba Linda, CA: ISV Foundation