Welcome to All About the Rapture – a place to explore all things related to the Biblical rapture of the Christian church.
Before we look at the rapture, I’d like to tell you about myself and why I have created this website. I’m a life-long Christian and I’ve always been interested in Bible prophecy. I grew up in church, and as far back as I can remember I’ve heard preachers say that the rapture is the next event on the prophetic timeline, that at any moment, Jesus could return for His church, take us back to heaven, and the Tribulation Period would begin. Over the years, I heard countless sermons about Christians disappearing, others being left behind, and all manners of chaos that would come upon the earth. As a kid, it all seemed so fascinating and exciting. I loved it when preachers talked about the rapture and the Tribulation Period.
As I got older, I maintained my interest in end-time prophecy, but as I listened to preachers talk about the rapture, I started to realize that it didn’t quite make sense. They were saying that Jesus was going to come before the Tribulation Period started, remove His church, and then take us back to heaven while the Tribulation Period played out on earth, but the verses they were using to prove that didn’t actually say that. But I ignored it. I overlooked it and kept listening to them. I figured that they knew more that I did, that they were drawing from other places in the Bible but weren’t mentioning those places, or that they were just giving an overview and didn’t have time in a 40 minute sermon, or 20 television show, to give all of the information. For years I continued listening to them and believing what they said.
Then one day, I’m not sure why, but I got a little fed up and I decided that I was going to go through the Bible and find where exactly it said that Jesus was going to return for His church and take us back to heaven before the Tribulation Period started. I started in Matthew and went through the New Testament page by page, taking note of everything that talked about end-time events and Jesus’ return. When I finished my study, I realized that the Bible does not teach that the rapture happens before the Tribulation Period and it does not teach that Jesus takes us back to heaven. In fact, I found the opposite to be true, that the Bible shows that the rapture will happen at the end of the Tribulation Period when Jesus returns to stop the anti-Christ and his followers and to establish His millennial kingdom, and that after the rapture we will return to earth with Jesus.
I’ve created this website because I want to share with you what I found. I want to look at the passages that show that the rapture will happen at the Second Coming, and also take an in-depth look at the pre-Tribulation rapture and explain why it is wrong. I know that most Christians are pre-Tribulationists, and that it might be hard to accept that the pre-Tribulation belief is wrong, but there is so much evidence in the Bible that the rapture will happen at the Second Coming that it is important to look at that evidence and consider it.
As we start this first post, let’s review basic end-time prophecy, the rapture itself, and the pre-and post-Tribulation Period points of view. We will then take a closer look at the rapture by examining the two main verses in the Bible that talk about it.
Basic end-time Bible prophecy: The bible says that at some point in the future, a world leader (the anti-Christ) will make a 7-year treaty with Israel. That 7-year period is known as the Tribulation Period. After 3 1/2 years, he will break the treaty. 3 1/2 years after that, Jesus will return to defeat the anti-Christ and his followers, and to begin His 1,000-year reign on earth. (At the moment, I am going to assume that readers of this website have a general understanding of what the Tribulation Period is. I do plan to get into that subject later, but not right now.)
The rapture: According to the Bible, at some point in the future, Jesus will descend from heaven and call Christians all over the world to meet Him in the air to remain with Him forever. This event is called the rapture. Although all Christians agree that there will be a rapture, there is some disagreement over when the rapture takes place.
The pre-Tribulationist view: Pre-Tribulationists don’t think the church will be on earth during the Tribulation Period. They believe that the rapture happens before the Tribulation Period begins, that before that anti-Christ makes the 7-year treaty with Israel, Jesus will appear in the sky, call Christians everywhere to His side, and then take them back to heaven while the Tribulation Period plays out on earth. Once the 7-yr period is over, Jesus will return in what is known as the Second Coming. He will return from with heaven with the church, the Old Testament saints will be resurrected (as will people who became Christians during the Tribulation Period and died during the Tribulation Period; there is no question that there are people who will become Christians during the Tribulation Period), and Jesus will stop the anti-Christ and his followers, and will establish His millennial kingdom on earth.
The post-Tribulationist view: Post-Tribulationists believe that Christians will remain on earth for the Tribulation Period and the activities of the anti-Christ. They believe that the rapture is part of the Second Coming. They believe that at the end of the Tribulation Period, when Jesus returns for His Second Coming, He will appear in the sky (descend from heaven) and call all Christians to his side (all Christians who died before and during the Tribulation Period will be resurrected, as will the Old Testament saints). He will then defeat the anti-Christ and his followers and establish His millennial kingdom on earth.
Now let’s take closer look at the rapture. There are two main passages in the Bible that talk about the rapture: 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-52. Both passages were written by the Apostle Paul, and both pre-and post-Tribulationists agree that these passages are talking about the rapture and they agree on the basic interpretation of the passages.
We will first look at 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 (NKJV):
14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 (NKJV) says:
51. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed-
52. in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
As you can see, each passage focuses on different aspects of the rapture. When you put them together, you get a detailed picture of what happens.
First, Jesus descends from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, the sounding of a trumpet. (On another side note, every so often you’ll hear people getting really technical and arguing over whether there are all three sounds (the shout, the archangel, and the trumpet), or, if it is simply Jesus shouting with a voice that is like that of an archangel and like that of a trumpet. I’m not a linguist, but I’ve heard preachers say that when you look at the original language in which 1 Thessalonians was written, it is clear that are not three distinct sounds, but rather, Jesus’ shout is like that of an archangel and like that of a trumpet. But I don’t think it’s too important. The main point of the passages is that we are being called together to meet Jesus in the air.)
Second, the dead in Christ will be resurrected. They will rise with new, incorruptible bodies, and they will be the first to meet Jesus in the air.
Third, without having to experience death, Christians who are still alive will be instantly transformed and given their new, incorruptible bodies. They will then be caught up in the clouds to meet Jesus in the air, as well.
And that’s the rapture. It’s pretty simple and straightforward. It is the time the living church is caught up to meet Jesus in the air. And as I mentioned before, there is really no debate about the basic facts of the rapture. Both pre-and post- Tribulationists agree that Jesus will descend from heaven with a shout, Christians who have died will be resurrected with new bodies, Christians who are still alive will receive new bodies, as well, and both groups will meet Jesus in the air. It’s what happens next that causes the controversy: Does Jesus take us back to heaven while the Tribulation Period plays out on earth, or is the Tribulation Period over, meaning that we will return to earth right away with Jesus as He establishes His kingdom? That’s the question. But we are not going to get into that today. Today, I just wanted to give a basic overview of end-time bible prophecy, the rapture, the pre-and post-Tribulation beliefs, and to show you where to find the appropriate passages in the Bible that talk about the rapture. Next time, we will start to look at whether Jesus will return before or after the Tribulation Period.
One final note, you may have noticed that the word rapture is not found in any of the passages that describe the rapture. The reason is because we get the word rapture from the Latin translation of the Bible. The English translation reads caught up (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Different language, different word, but the idea of meeting Jesus in the air is the same.
That’s all for today. Thank you for reading. See you next time!
Julie J
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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