The ‘Rapture’- Part 1
Today I am going to talk about the “Rapture”, the first of hopefully a series including the Battle of Armageddon and the “Second Coming of Jesus”. Now I know that sometimes this topic of the Rapture can be quite controversial. Even the word itself is a concern for some as the word itself does not appear in the bible (which really should not be too much of a barrier considering all the translations- also does the word Christmas even appear in the bible?) As far as the whole debate as to when it will occur “pre-trib”, “mid-trib” or ”post-trib” goes, the fact of the matter is, no one knows when it’s going to happen, except the Father. We all have ideas and opinions as to when it will occur, but we should not let this be a distraction to the event itself.
A key verse describing the Rapture is found in
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Those words “caught up” in the Latin translation (The Vulgate) are derived from the word “rapio” which literally means “snatched way”. We get other words from this same Latin word that we use today including, raptor, ravage, ravish and of course rapture. So nothing too controversial about that.
Also note that it is the “dead in Christ” that are raised, so this verse is directed to and about believers.
Before we get onto the topic of the Rapture itself, let’s just remind ourselves about what happens when we as Christians die (I covered this some time ago but let’s just revise). The question we put at the time was
Do I immediately go to heaven or do I lie in a state of sleep till Jesus comes again?
We know that Christians go to heaven immediately once they die But note this is in spirit form.
Philippians 1:21-23 (NIV)21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labour for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;
I.e. depart and be with Christ …i.e. this happens immediately
2 Corinthians 5:6-8 (NIV)6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
(You are not ”at home with the Lord” if you are in some kind of soul sleep in a grave for thousands of years?)
Mark 12:26-27 (NIV)26 Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’[a]? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”
That also makes it very clear does it not?
Luke 23:39-43 (NIV)39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[a]”43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
So we know this is in spirit form, because clearly we cannot go to heaven for eternity in a perishable body- it will perish! Thus when we die we are not in some kind of soul sleep. We go to heaven immediately, but resurrection of new body takes place at this later stage. That event when we receive a new imperishable body is called the Rapture- it is the resurrection of believers!
And so this Rapture event then is the moment when we receive a new body that can last eternally. This is the moment then when the perishable inherits the imperishable. 1 Corinthians 15:50-55
50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 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. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”[a]
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
So no longer will we be spirit form, it will be the time for the resurrection of the dead to receive new bodies. Those who are not dead at that time, Paul says will not go through that experience of dying but instantly receive new imperishable bodies. So all believers will receive a new body at that time, first those who have died , then those who are still alive.
And so a suitable word for the rapture may well be the resurrection of the dead. It is the resurrection! This in fact is the hope of the Christian and what Paul talks about so often
But the bible uses other words for this event as well which are quite instructive. One of these terms is the “coming of the Lord”
1 Thessalonians 4:13-17NIV Believers Who Have Died
13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
This phrase the “coming of the Lord” is a reference to this specific moment when we are “caught up” and you will notice in 1 Thes4:17 to “meet the Lord in the air”
This is very different from the Second coming of the Lord.
We know the First coming of our Lord is when Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered, was crucified and was buried to rise again to sit at the right hand of the Father.
At the second coming which we will look at it in more depth at a later stage, we see how different it is in Zechariah 14:6-11 NIV
6 On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness. 7 It will be a unique day—a day known only to the Lord—with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light.
8 On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter.
9 The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.
We also see this “Second coming” in Rev 19:11-20 Jesus comes down to earth at the end of the time of Tribulation, which by the way is also called the “day of the Lord” or the time of wrath.
So the Day of the Lord (tribulation), the coming of the Lord (Rapture) and the second coming are all very different
Revelation 19:11-20 The Heavenly Warrior Defeats the Beast
11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron sceptre.”[a] He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
king of kings and lord of lords.
So at the “coming of the Lord” (or the resurrection, or the rapture) Jesus does not come down to earth but as you see we meet Him in the air. And it happens between the 1st coming of the Lord and the second coming of the Lord
Also as far as the Second coming goes, we can know with a certain degree of accuracy when the Second coming of Jesus will be – when the tribulation starts we have 7 years according to Daniel before the Second coming of Jesus. But with the “coming of the Lord “or the Rapture we have no idea at all.
So what do we know about the Rapture so far.
The only indication will be a loud shout and the sound of the trumpet.( 1 Thess 4:16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God,..)
No-one will know or even can know when this will happen. It could happen today! In Matthew we read
Matthew 24:36-37 The Day and Hour Unknown
36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
Don’t you find it quite fascinating that Jesus says that the Son does not know when it will take place but only the Father? But as you dig deeper you realise He is alluding to a very specific Jewish tradition that parallels this moment. And that is the Jewish wedding! And he emphasises that this point in John 14 again
John 14:1-6 Jesus Comforts His Disciples
14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Jesus the Way to the Father
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
So let’s have a quick look at the traditional Jewish wedding.
As a son grows up and becomes old enough to marry, the father selects a bride for the son. A servant may be used as in the case of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 24 to find a bride for his son. Once the potential bride is found the servant goes to her house and a price is paid. If the bride accepts betrothal takes place. At this point she hasn’t seen the groom. The servant then returns to his master’s house and informs the Father and the groom. However the son cannot just rush off and claim his bride as much as he wants to. She has to have a place to stay and in those days the groom had to build an extension onto the father’s house. The father knows that the son will want to rush off and get his bride and attention to building the new extension in the house is probably not a priority and so only when the fathers says that the extension is ready, and the father is satisfied may the son go and claim his bride. Meanwhile the bride waits in this covenant relationship. So neither the son nor the bride knows when the groom will return. But she must be ready at all times. When the father says ok, the groom travels back to receive his bride.
The bridegroom comes - usually at night - to take his bride to live with him. The groom, the best man, and other male escorts leave the father's house and conduct a torch-light procession to the home of the bride. Although the bride is expecting her groom to come for her, she does not know the time of his coming. As a result, the groom's arrival is preceded by a shout, which announces his arrival and her imminent departure to go with him.
After the groom receives his bride, together with her female attendants, the enlarged wedding party return from the bride's home to the groom's father's house, where the wedding guests have assembled.
The wedding guests remain in the groom's father's house for the next seven days, celebrating with a great wedding feast. During the seven days of the wedding feast, the bride and groom remain together in the bridal chamber for the seven days. Afterwards, the groom comes out of hiding, bringing his bride with him, but with her veil removed so that everyone could see her.
After these 7 days of celebration they then return to the bride’s house for more celebration with the bride’s family.
We know that the church is the bride of Christ, we too are in a covenant relationship and we too should be ready at all times for when the groom returns. This then is the moment of rapture when the groom takes the bride to be with Him.
The learning points in relation to the bride of Christ, the rapture and the second coming are obvious.
It is clear that
We are betrothed as a church and in a covenant relationship. Keeping ourselves pure and ready for His return is a priority.
We need to be ready at all times – the fun could begin any moment!
While the Church may be veiled now at the end of the 7 days the Church is fully revealed
Just as the groom will come with a shout at any time, and take his bride, so too will Jesus return with a shout to receive us into His Father’s house.
Just as the groom returns with the bride so too will we return Him at the Second Coming at the end of Tribulation
Next week we will carry on with part two of this topic of the Rapture because there is so much more to learn from it.
But just thinking about when we get resurrected (or raptured!)
(1 Corinthians 2:9 ) :” no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human mind has conceived”
the things God has prepared for those who love him and
Corinthians 15:54-57 (NIV)
54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”[
55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”