The Rapture is the term used to describe when the LORD Jesus comes to take all believers home to heaven, the time when we receive our incorruptible, immortal bodies. The following scriptures describe this event.
John 14:1–3 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
1 Corinthians 15:51–53 “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
1 Thessalonians 4:15–17 “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall 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: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
Observations from these verses:
- Jesus will come again and receive us to Himself. Specifically implied is that the LORD is going to take us to the Father's home to the place He has prepared for us.
- Not everyone will die; the Greek for “sleep” makes reference to death.
- Those who are alive when Jesus comes for us will immediately be changed from a corruptible mortal body to an incorruptible immortal body.
- This change will happen in the twinkling of an eye. Research does not provide a concrete answer for how fast that is; it is the time it takes light to go from the front to the back of the eye.
- The LORD will descend, the dead in Christ will rise, and we who are alive will then be caught up together with them to meet the LORD in the air in the clouds. From that point on, we will be with the LORD.
This event is very different from the return of Jesus to set up His earthly kingdom for the millennial reign. Scripture clearly describes this event as the time when Jesus defeats the forces of Satan and binds him for 1000 years in the bottomless pit. During that time Jesus will rebuild His temple and take the throne of David in Jerusalem from which He will rule the whole world. That return is described in Revelation 19.
Revelation 19:11–16 “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
Revelation 19:19–20:3 “And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled….”
The contrast to the rapture is obvious. The return of Jesus as King will be obvious to everyone on planet earth. He will be on a white horse and wearing a garment that is drenched in blood. Though He comes with all the armies of heaven (all riding white horses and dressed in clean white linen), He alone will defeat the nations with the sword that comes out of His mouth. Scripture elsewhere tells us that this sword is His word.
Ephesians 6:17 “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”
It is quite obvious that Jesus is coming to earth to establish His kingdom in contrast to meeting believers in the air to take them to the Father’s home in heaven. The rapture will happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. The second coming will be a process that will be quite visible to all on earth.
Many debate when the rapture will happen. I think scripture is clear in telling us that this event can happen at any moment—a point in time that only the Father knows. In contrast, His return as King will occur exactly 7 years after the Antichrist signs the covenant that establishes peace between Israel and the nations as described by the prophet Daniel and affirmed in the book of Revelation. (Detailed studies about these scriptures are found in my verse-by-verse journals.)
The majority of evangelical Christendom believes in a pre-tribulation rapture. The tribulation being the general term for the last seven years before Jesus returns as King, the beginning of which is marked by the signing of the covenant. Those who posit a mid-tribulation rapture believe that it will occur at the end of the first 3.5 years of the tribulation. Post-rapture followers believe that the rapture will happen at the end of the tribulation. There is another view called pre-wrath, and my research revealed two different viewpoints in connection with this label.
Though I am not a scholar, my studies lead me to a bit of a combined expectation. I personally believe that the first five seals described in Revelation 6 have already been opened. Their connection to the “sorrows,” or birth pains described by Jesus in Matthew 24 are too strong to be coincidental in my opinion. I believe the rapture could happen at any moment; however, my studies seem to point to a time just preceding or in conjunction with the opening of the sixth seal (which could happen at any moment), specifically identified as the wrath of the Lamb, the LORD Jesus.
Revelation 6:16–17 “And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”
My belief is strengthened by the fact that chapter 7 describes the sealing of the 144,000 Jewish witnesses that will spread the gospel and the truth of God’s words during the first half of the tribulation along with the two special witnesses that will testify from Jerusalem. Just as the church picked up the mantle of witness from the people of Israel, these tribulation witnesses will pick up the mantle of witness from the church as God's focus turns back to Israel.
Paul is also clear that the church will be raptured before the Antichrist is revealed when he signs the covenant.
2 Thessalonians 2:3–8 “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God….And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming….”
“our gathering together unto him” = the rapture
“withholdeth” = holds fast, restrains
“letteth” = same Greek word as “withholdeth”
These verses tell us that some force is holding back the Antichrist, the man of sin, the son of perdition, from being able to reveal himself. The Antichrist receives his power from Satan (see Revelation 13), so the power holding him back must be more powerful than Satan. When that power is “taken out of the way,” Antichrist will then be allowed to reveal himself. I believe that power is the Holy Spirit that indwells every true believer. When the body of believers is raptured, the Holy Spirit is taken with them.
I believe that the chaos that ensues from the opening of the sixth seal and the rapture of the body of believers paves the way for the Antichrist to come on the scene as the long-awaited Messiah (to the Jews), the great world leader that those deceived by Satan have long desired to establish their new world order here on earth.
I could certainly be wrong. Only the future will reveal the truth. I will say, however, that these last two months (March-April 2020), have opened my eyes to how quickly change can happen, how quickly people can become sheeple through fear and deception.
My cry continues to be—Come, LORD Jesus!
