Welcome back to All About the Rapture! Today, we are going to look at when the rapture will happen by looking at 1 Corinthians 15. There’s a lot of talk among pre-and post-Tribulationists about how the Bible never actually says if the rapture happens before the Tribulation Period begins or if it happens as the Tribulation Period ends. And while it is true that the Bible never specifically says, “the rapture happens before the Tribulation Period begins”, or “the rapture happens at the Second Coming/as the Tribulation Period ends”, if you read the Bible, you will find that, even though it doesn’t use those exact words, it does tell us when it will happen. But you have to read it. All too often, people look at passages that talk about the rapture without ever reading the verses around them, or without ever reading the chapters that contain them. But you can’t do that. You can’t just isolate the passages that talk about the rapture and then try to make sense of them. You have to leave the passages where they are and understand why they were written and why they are there.
The Apostle Paul gives us the most information about the rapture. It was Paul who wrote 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17, which are the two main passages that talk about the rapture. But in order to understand when the rapture will take place, you must understand why Paul wrote those verses. He wrote them for a specific reason, to make a specific point. When you leave the verses where they are, and you read the entire chapters that contain them, you will understand the point he was making when he wrote them, and you will find that they actually do tell us when the rapture will happen. And they tell us that it will happen at the Second Coming, which is at the end of the Tribulation Period. Today, we are going to look at not only 1 Corinthians 15:51,52, but we are going to look at the entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 15. Let’s get started!
1 Corinthians 15:51,52 is one of the two main passages that tell us about the rapture. It reads:
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. (NKJV)
That passage is very clear. It tells us that not everyone will experience death. It tells us that, during the rapture, Christians who are alive will receive new bodies. But when will it happen? To answer that question, we must look at the entire chapter of 1 Corinthians. We can’t just isolate the verses. We must understand why he wrote the entire chapter, what points he was trying to make. When we understand the chapter, then we will understand what he meant by writing verses 51 and 52, and we will understand when he says the rapture will happen.
Let’s look at Chapter 15. At the beginning of the chapter, Paul is assuring the Corinthians that Jesus did rise from the dead. Evidently, there was some confusion within the church over Jesus’ death and resurrection. Some people were stirring up trouble by saying that Jesus did not really rise from the dead. Paul is quite strongly assuring the church that Jesus did, in fact, rise from the dead. (verses 1-11)
He then addresses the fact that some people in the church were saying that there is no resurrection of the dead for believers. They were saying that once you, you’re dead forever. There is no resurrection. Again, Paul very strongly corrects them and tells them that there will be a resurrection. (verses 12-34)
He then addresses the apparent stubbornness of some in the church. He know that some of them will continue to try to stir up trouble and cause others to doubt their faith by asking what seems to be a valid question, which is, what kind of bodies will people have when they are resurrected? Paul knows that these people are just being difficult and trying to cause trouble, but it’s an important subject and the church must know how to answer the trouble makers, so he goes on to explain to them the new type of bodies we will receive when we are resurrected. He also explains to them the importance of dying. He tells them that they must die in order to receive their new bodies. To help them understand, he uses the example of a seed. He says that in the same way that we sow a seed, and the seed must die in order to become a plant, we, too, must die, these physical bodies of our must be sown in death, in order for us to receive our new bodies. He then tells them that while our bodies will be sown in corruption, dishonor, and weakness, they will be raised in incorruption, glory, and power. Our bodies will be sown as natural, earthly bodies, but raised as spiritual bodies. (verses 35-49)
Now, we are at verse 50. As you just saw, in the previous verses, Paul went into great detail telling the Corinthians that they need to die in order to receive their new bodies. And here, in verse 50, Paul makes the astonishing statement that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Verse 50 reads:
‘Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.’ (NKJV)
At this point, the Corinthians might be a little confused. Paul has just gone into great detail telling them that they need to die in order to receive their new, spiritual bodies, and that they need these new, spiritual bodies in order to inherit the kingdom. But what if they are still alive when Jesus returns to start His kingdom? Do they still have to die in order to receive their new bodies? Will they have to kill themselves in some sort of mass-suicide? Or will they just not be able to inherit the kingdom because they don’t have their new bodies?
Well, Paul knows that the Corinthians must be having those concerns, so he answers their concerns before they have a chance to worry too much, and, in verse 51, he says (to paraphrase), ‘But wait! You don’t all have to die! If you happen to be alive when Jesus returns to start His kingdom, you will suddenly, miraculously, in the moment, in the twinkling of an eye, receive your new, spiritual bodies, too. You will not be left out. You will be able to inherit the kingdom because, without having to experience death, you will be changed and given your new body and able to inherit the kingdom of god alongside all those who have died before you.’ That is what he means in verses 51 and 52 when he says,
51. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall 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. (NKJV)
And that is why Paul wrote verses 51 and 52. He is reassuring the Corinthian church that, even if they are alive when Jesus returns to start his kingdom, that they, too, will receive their new bodies and will be able to inherit the kingdom.
So, the question becomes, when does the kingdom of God begin? Does the kingdom of God begin in heaven? Or, does it begin on earth? If Jesus were to come and remove the church and take us back to heaven to escape the Tribulation Period and live in heaven for seven years, is that the start of the kingdom of God? Or, does the kingdom of God begin when Jesus return to start his millennial reign on earth? Based on my forty years as a Christian, and years of listening to sermons and reading the Bible, I have always been told, and I believe, that the kingdom of God begins on earth. The kingdom of God begins when Jesus returns at the Second Coming to stop the anti-Christ, save the Jewish people, and establish his millennial reign on earth. The kingdom of God does not begin in heaven. It does not start with us going back to heaven to rest and praise God for seven years while the Tribulation Period plays out on earth. The kingdom begins on earth. And Paul make it very clear that the reason we need our new bodies is so that we can inherit the kingdom.
If we were just going back to heaven for a few years in order to escape the Tribulation Period, we would not need new bodies. If you recall, in Genesis 5, Enoch was taken to heaven by God. In verse 24, the Bible says,
‘And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.’ (NKJV)
Similarly, in 2 Kings 2, God took the prophet Elijah. Elijah had grown weary of this world and the sin among his people, and he had asked God to allow him to die (1 Kings 19). Well, God didn’t allow him to die, but He did take him away (2 Kings 2). Without having to experience death, God took Elijah away. And when God took Enoch and Elijah to live in heaven, neither one died, and neither received a new body. Both Enoch and Elijah went to heaven in their good old earthly bodies, and they have been living in heaven for the past several thousand years in their old, earthly, physical bodies, because you don’t need a new spiritual body to live in heaven.
In the same way, every Christian who has died believing in Jesus, and every Godly person who lived in the days of the Old Testament and died under the law, is living in heaven in their spirits. Their old, earthly bodies died and remain on earth, but their spirits have been reunited with God, and they’ve been living in heaven for, in some cases, thousands and thousands of years, because you don’t need a new body to live in heaven.
But Paul makes it clear that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. He makes it very clear that we do need new, spiritual, glorified, incorruptible bodies to inherit the kingdom. So, when does the kingdom of God begin? The kingdom of God begins on earth. It begins when Jesus returns at the Second Coming to defeat the anti-Christ, save the Jewish people, and establish His Millennial Reign on earth. That is why we need our new bodies. Not to live in heaven, but to live on earth, to inherit the kingdom of God that exists when Jesus reigns in His earthly, millennial kingdom.
And that is when the rapture happens. The rapture happens at the Second Coming. According to Paul, when Jesus returns at the Second Coming to start His kingdom, those who have died will rise with their new bodies and inherit the kingdom, and, if you are a Christian and you happen to be alive when Jesus returns, then you, too, will receive your new body. Without experiencing death, you will be miraculously, supernaturally changed, and you will receive your new body, as well, and you, too, will get to inherit the kingdom.
That is what Paul is telling the church at Corinth. That is why he wrote 1 Corinthians 15:51 and 52. The rapture is not our escape. It’s not our escape from seven years of tribulation. It’s not a time when Jesus comes to get us and take us back to live in heaven for a few years. The rapture is our Participation. It is what allows us living Christians to claim our inheritance and participate in the kingdom of God as heirs. Without the rapture, Christians who are alive at the time of Christ’s return would be left out. Since they never died, they wouldn’t have new bodies, so they wouldn’t get to inherit the kingdom. But with the rapture, by God allowing us to miraculously receive our new bodies without having to experience death, we get to claim our inheritance.
That’s all for today. I hope you enjoyed today’s message. See you next time!
Julie J
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
All About The Rapture 