The “Rapture”
Misunderstanding scripture and prophecy
In a previous essay on “Great Tribulation”, we noted that in these troubled times, many have restarted thinking about “the time of the end” and what signs there might be if this is to be the “end of the age”.
That essay made clear (if my understanding of scripture is clear) that no such event as some 3.5 or 7 year “Tribulation” was prophesied for OUR future.
The Tribulation doctrine is the most ubiquitous but a close second might be “the Rapture”, in which Jesus appears for a short time, scoops up all of the Christians who are following His way and returns to Heaven.
Some couple the Rapture with the Great Tribulation which thinking wistfully means that God’s people would not have to suffer the Tribulation.
Unfortunately (depending on your perspective and knowledge of the scriptures), just as there is no Great Tribulation prophesied for our future, there is no “Rapture” (as it is taught in many churches today) in our future either. 1
Is the “Rapture of the Saints” Biblical truth or a false doctrine?
There is no Biblical foundation for a belief in a “rapture” in which God’s people will be caught up to Heaven, the abode of Jesus and God, the Father, while some time passes (with the rest of the world perhaps experiencing the “Great Tribulation”) before Jesus establishes His Kingdom.
The Bible teaches that Jesus will return to this earth and set up His kingdom and rule for a “thousand years” (however long that is to God) [Revelation 20:1-6]. The Bible does not teach that He will come and take some away to heaven first and then come back later to rule.
The idea of a rapture is said to have originated with a Spanish Catholic Jesuit named Ribera, in 1580 A.D. (See “The Rapture of the Wicked“, by Stephen E. Jones and “The Rapture of the Saints“, by Duncan McDougall.)
During a time of much bloodshed in Europe as Catholics persecuted and killed their opponents, this doctrine said that Christ was going to come and secretly snatch away the Church before a great seven-year tribulation, when the “anti-Christ” would rule the world. This futurist interpretation of the book of Revelation, along with the future coming of the Antichrist, was designed to take the pressure off the Pope, who was universally regarded as being the antichrist by His opponents.
In contemporary religious belief, the “rapture” is a time when all of God’s people will be taken from the earth and transported to “heaven”. As the on-line, informal encyclopedia Wikipedia puts it:
In conservative Protestant Christian eschatology, the rapture (“harpazo”2 in Greek in 1 Thessalonians 4:17) is the name given to the event in which all Christians living on earth are simultaneously transported to Heaven to be with Jesus Christ.
The Bible teaches nothing about a “rapture”.
The word is not found in any standard Bible translation. The belief in a rapture seems to be based mostly on the following scripture:
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 Thessalonians 4:15–17 (NKJV)
The key to understanding may be this scripture from the book of Acts and a prophecy from the book of Zechariah:
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 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.” 12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. Acts 1:9–12 (NIV84)
3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. 4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. 5 You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. Zechariah 14:3–5 (NIV84)
When these scriptures are included with the following from the 15th chapter of Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth, the meaning becomes even clearer:
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed–in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. NIV 1 Corinthians 15:51-52
As Jesus explained to Nicodemus:
“I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, `You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” NIV John 3:5-8
This explains how God’s people (“born of the Spirit”)3 will rise up to meet Jesus in the air when He returns to set up His world-ruling Kingdom.
Where some people disagree in their understanding of this meeting of Jesus and those who are resurrected is in what they do after the meeting “in the clouds”; Jesus is descending (just as He left) to the earth with His “holy ones” (those who were resurrected or “changed”) with Him [Zechariah 14:5]. The apostle John saw a vision of this event and describes what happens:
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. NIV Revelation 20:4-6
Many believe that they will be caught up with Jesus to Heaven, the abode of God, the Father.
Rather they should understand that (in the Bible) there are three “heavens” – the sky above us (1), the domain of the sun, moon and stars (2) and the domain of God, the Father (3).
The dead “in Christ” and those who are “in Christ” but still alive will indeed be caught up to heaven but it is in the clouds of the earth (number 1 above) as Jesus is descending to establish His world-ruling Kingdom upon this earth where He will reign with those “saints” for “a thousand years” (however long that is to God).
God’s people WILL be with God forever!
It matters not in many respects how people understand this event – the important thing is that we “will be with the Lord forever” [I Thessalonians 4:17]. It does matter that we understand as much of the prophecy from the Bible as possible because it enlightens us in many other ways. It is also important that we learn enough to distinguish false interpretations of prophecy so that, for instance, we are not made to fear the return of Jesus but to pray for it and anticipate that event.
22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 1 Corinthians 15:22–23 (NIV84)
In fact, in John’s Revelation vision, we see that at least part of heaven is going to come down to earth:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” NIV Revelation 21:1-4
We are not told what happens after the final judgment, other than that we will be with God forever as immortal beings but upon contemplation that mystery is very exciting as we will have a chance to understand those mysteries that are hidden from us now and time will no longer be a factor in our becoming what God made us capable of becoming.
What matters even more is that we pattern our lives after the life of Jesus and His teaching, that we strive to obey the commandments of God and that we love our fellow man and do all that we can to become what God made us capable of becoming while doing all that we can to make the world around us a better place to live.
1 The concepts in this essay are quite confusing to some. If that applies to you, I recommend that you read this essay closely, understanding the scriptures and rereading when my explanations are not clear. It’s better when the Bible teaches you directly with help from God’s Spirit.
2 The Greek word harpazo means “caught up” just as the NIV (and the KJV) translates it.
3 One seeking total understanding should also read and ponder I Corinthians 15:12-58, which is Paul’s lengthy exposition on the resurrection of Jesus and of all His people at the time of His return to this earth. It also explains the changing from physical bodies to spiritual bodies of those who are still alive and are “in Christ” at the time of His return as well as the resurrection of the “dead in Christ” who will be resurrected as immortal spirit beings at that time. This also corresponds to the description of the event as recorded above in I Thessalonians chapter 4.
