The biblical foundation and historical background and how it differs from the ‘Second Coming’ of Christ
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Title: Are You Ready For The Rapture?
Title: The Rapture
Title: Watch This if Millions Are Missing
The biblical foundation for the Rapture teaching
The term Rapture indicates a swift catching up or rescuing of God’s people. Those holding the pre-tribulation rapture view hold that the Rapture will occur before the outpouring of God’s wrath during the Tribulation and the rise of the Antichrist.
Like the terms trinity and missions, the English term Rapture is not found in Scripture. However, scholars believe the foundation for the Rapture teaching has a strong biblical foundation. The term Rapture comes from 1 Thessalonians 4:17. The Greek text of the New Testament uses the word harpazo, for the phrase rendered catch-up in English. The Latin translators of the Greek New Testament Bible translated the word harpazo, rapturo. The Latin, rapturo, is the root word for the term Rapture.
Through the Rapture, God will catch up His Church so faithful followers will not have to experience the tribulations and wrath noted in the book of Revelation.
Scriptural support for the pre-tribulation Rapture view
Historically, there have been various views regarding the timing of the Rapture. The dispensationalist view is that the Church (faithful followers of Christ) will be raptured (caught up to be with Christ) at some point before the commencement of the seven-year tribulation period. What follows is the Biblical foundation for that position.
The Tribulation references a period of unprecedented oppression, persecution, and suffering. Scripture describes the seven-year tribulation period as a time “such as was not since there was a nation, no, nor shall be.”1 Jesus said that “no one would survive if those days were not cut short.”2
However, Scripture indicates that believers are not appointed to wrath3 and will be kept from the hour of testing that is coming upon the world.”4 Through the Rapture, the Lord will fulfill His promise to rescue faithful followers from a future time of ‘wrath.’
The Rapture teaching is indirectly supported by the following:
- Scripture indicates that in the future, the Holy Spirit will be removed from the earth and that the Holy Spirit Who currently restrains Satanic activity. Many believe that since the…
- Holy Spirit dwells in the hearts of believers
- And the Holy Spirit will be removed
- The 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 passage must refer to the removal of believers from the earth (a reference to the Rapture).
- This interpretation is further supported by the Scriptural notation that the removal of the Holy Spirit (the ‘restrainer’) opens the door for a marked increase in demonic activity on earth. This correlates well with the rise of the Antichrist and the evil profiled in the book of Revelation.
- Many Scriptures note the “Jewishness” of the Tribulation events profiled in the book of Revelation. The tribulation is referred to as the “time of Jacob’s trouble,” it concerns “Daniel’s people,” a “false Messiah,” the city of Jerusalem, the twelve tribes of Israel, the “Temple” and a “flight on the Sabbath.” The Church is not mentioned in the book of Revelation after the judgments begin.
- Jesus’ teaching on the last days indicates that though the day of the Rapture will remain a mystery, signs will indicate the day of the Lord draws near. Conversely, the day of the Second Coming of Christ will be exactly 2520 days after the signing of a peace agreement between Israel and the nations that seek her destruction (the Antichrist will lead in brokering that agreement). We read:
“Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors… But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come…if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched…Therefore be…ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” 5
When will the Rapture occur?
Scripture stresses that “no one knows the day or the hour” of the Lord’s return.6 Jesus spoke to this in the Olivet Discourse, His most detailed teaching on the end times in the Bible. We read:
“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”7
Some have taught that certain prophecies must be fulfilled before the Rapture occurs. Among the suggestions are the Gog-Magog war noted in Ezekiel 38-39, the rise of the Antichrist, the destruction of Damascus, and the building of the third Temple. However, requisite prophecies to the Rapture (as outlined in Matthew 24) have already been fulfilled. There are NO remaining prophetic requisites to the Rapture—the Lord may tarry, but no prophecies are keeping the Rapture from occurring at any time.
Affirming this truth, Theologians have coined the phrase, “the doctrine of imminence.” This means the Rapture can happen at any time and therefore, Christians should maintain a sense of expectancy and readiness regarding the return of Christ.8
The importance of expectancy and readiness is illustrated in the following parables: the thief and homeowner (Matthew 24:42-44), the servant, the Master and the wedding banquet (Luke 12:35-37), the wise manager (Luke 12:41-46), and the 10 bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1-13).
The Old Testament book, Song of Solomon also alludes to this truth as the unlikely bride (who represents Gentile believers) is told the Groom will depart for a time (this represents the Church Age) but will return (this is the Rapture). In the story, the bride is not ready when the Groom returns and is left behind.
Is the Rapture a teaching less than 200 years old?
Some indeed trace the beginning of the Rapture teaching to John Darby’s ministry in the early 1800’s. However, Bible scholars have discovered many references to the Rapture, dating back to the writings of the early church. A few examples follow:
The Apostolic Brethren, an unofficial and persecuted monastic order, wrote in 1316:
“The brethren will be transferred into Paradise, in which are Enoch and Elijah. And in this way, they will be preserved unharmed from the persecution of Antichrist.”10
From Denys ‘van Leeuwen, a 15th-century Dutch Carthusian monk:
“In a moment in ye twinkling of an ey…in the sownyng of the last trumpe shal be the Iugement…The daye of our lorde shal come…O howe blessed and how happy shal he be that now entendeth to the poure langwysshyng nedy people….for our Lorde wil delivere them therefore from alle daungler…”11
Early 17th-century preacher Thomas Draxe (d. 1618) wrote that “just as God saved Noah from the judgment of the flood, the Lord will save those before the wrath of the last days.”
“If wee beleeue the doctrine of the resurrection, wee must not immoderately weepe, or mourne for our friends departed…for they die not but sleep awhile in the earth, and afterwards the bodie shall awake and ascend to glorie; they are nor perished but…one day meete together in the Place and parliament of heauen…[we shall] be raosed …accounted worth to escape al those things that shall come upon the world…”12
Joseph Mede (1586-1639) wrote that the “saints would be translated into the air…[so that] they may be preserved during the conflagration of the earth…”13
Mead later wrote: “The resurrection of those which slept in Christ, and the rapture of those which shall be left alive…shall translate them into heaven…” 14
Joseph Hall (1574-1656), Bishop of Exeter, wrote of how the taking of Moses, Enoch, and Elijah portended a future rapture of believers.
“The saints of God are not lost…but as…Elias…was rapt into Heaven…[so] shall we…when Christ…shall appear. Then shall we also appear with him in glory…We shall not all sleep, we shall be changed…[Nothing] shall keep us from appearing with him…when the fiery Chariot shall come and sweep thee from this Vale of Mortality.”15
In his book, History of the Christian Church, the eminent Church Historian Peter Shift noted that the following early (pre-fourth century) church fathers believed in the Millennium, the rise of Israel. and the Rapture: Barnabas, Papias, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Methodius, and Lactantius.
The second-century works, The Shepherd of Hermas and The Apocalypse of Elijah also reference the Rapture.
The Rapture teaching is not new—it finds its foundation in the writings of Paul and John, in the teachings of Jesus, and in the Song of Solomon and Old Testament Prophets. It is wise to anticipate and spiritually prepare for the promised return of the Lord.
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RAPTURE VS. THE SECOND COMING
The term Rapture indicates a swift catching up or rescuing of God’s people BEFORE the outpouring of wrath during the Tribulation and the rise of the Antichrist.
The English term Rapture comes from 1 Thessalonians 4:17. The Greek text of the New Testament uses the word harpazo, meaning to seize upon or to catch or snatch up. The Latin translators of the Greek New Testament Bible translated the word harpazo, rapturo. The Latin, rapturo, is the root word for the term Rapture.
Through the Rapture, God will catch up His Church so faithful followers will not have to experience the tribulations and wrath noted in the book of Revelation.
John, the writer of the book of Revelation, said it this way: the Church will be “kept from the hour of testing that shall come upon the world.” (Revelation 3:10)
Paul, writing of the quick and sudden nature of the Rapture wrote:
“Behold I show you a mystery we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment in the twinkling of an eye…for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised…and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-53)
Writing to the Thessalonian Church about the Rapture, the Apostle Paul wrote:
“For the Lord…will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” (1 Thess. 4:16-17)
Jesus noted some will be left behind when the Rapture occurs:
“There will be two in the field, and then suddenly one will be left. There will be two women grinding at the mill. One will be taken, and one will be left.” (Matt. 24:40-41)
The Second Coming will occur during the Battle of Armageddon. Jesus will be seen descending from heaven in resplendent glory. He will set his foot on Mt. Olivet (which causes a great earthquake), vanquish the army of the Antichrist, watch as a great angel seizes and binds the Antichrist and the False Prophet, pronounces judgment, and then will renew the earth and usher- in what is known as the Millennial Reign of Christ.
Many believe the terms the Rapture and The Second Coming refer to the same event. They do not. And sadly, as virtually all agree the Second Coming will occur at the end of the seven-year tribulation, many do not anticipate the return of Christ, via The Rapture, will happen soon.
What follows is a brief overview of bible-based details revealing that the Rapture and the Second Coming are NOT the same event:
- The Rapture will occur before the beginning of the Tribulation. In this event, Jesus will rescue His people and keep them from the hour of wrath that is coming to the world.
- The Second Coming event will happen at the end of the tribulation period and will initiate the beginning of the Millennial Reign of Christ.
- During the Rapture, Jesus will return “in the clouds” to “catch up” faithful followers “in the air” and take them away.
- At the Second Coming, Jesus will come to earth. He will set his foot on Mount Olivet destroy the enemies of God and build His Millennial Kingdom on earth (Rev. 19-20).
- At the Rapture, Jesus’ return is marked by joy and celebration.
- At the ‘Glorious Appearing,’ Jesus’ return is marked by war, wrath, and judgment.
- At the Rapture, Jesus returns for His people.
- At the ‘Glorious Appearing,’ Jesus returns with His people.
- Verses that reference the Rapture focus on what will happen to believers (they are ‘caught up’ to be with the Lord).
- Verses that reference the ‘Glorious Appearing’ focus on what will happen to the enemies of God (particularly the Antichrist and False Prophet).
- The Rapture event will happen suddenly—No prophecies need to be fulfilled before Jesus returns to rescue His Church. This indicates the Rapture can happen at any time.
- The Second Coming can only happen after many prophecies are fulfilled. These prophecies are outlined in the book of Revelation and include the rise of the Antichrist, the Mark of the Beast, the sealing of 144,000 witnesses, and the rebuilding of the third Temple.
The Second Coming and the Rapture are two separate events. The Rapture will occur first, before the Antichrist comes to power. The Second Coming will occur at the end of the seven-year tribulation period. It will conclude the Battle of Armageddon and mark the beginning of the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ.
References
1 Daniel 12:1
2 Matthew 24:22
3 1 Thessalonians 5:9
4 Revelation 3:10
5 Matthew 24:29-44
6 Matthew 24:36
7 1 Thessalonians 5:3-4
8 Luke 12:40; 21:36
9 Watson, William C, Dispensationalism Before Darby, (Lampion Press, Silverton, 2015)
10 Anon., The History of Brother Dolcino in Francis X. Gumerlock, ‘A Rapture Citation in the Fourteenth Century,’ Bibliothesa Sacra Iv. 159, no. 635; July-Sept. 2002), 354-355
11 Leewen, Denys van, Corden, Whiche treteth of the four last and final things that ben to come (1479)
12 Draxe, Thomas, An Alarm to the Last Judgment. Or An exact discourse of the second coming of Christ (London, 1615), 126,128. Ibid., 58-59
13 Mede, Works, III, 611. (Cited in H. Orton Wiley; Christian Theology, Chapter 34: The Second Advent (Nazarene Pub. House, 1940)
14 IBID
15 Hall, Joseph, The Contemplations upon the History of the New Testament, now complete (London, 1708), 96