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This article is about the use of the term in Christian eschatology, primarily in US Protestant Premillennalism. For other meanings, see [[:Rapture (disambiguation)]].

The Rapture is a term most commonly used to describe an event in certain systems of Christian eschatology (study of the end times) whereby all true Christians are taken from Earth by God into Heaven. Although almost all forms of Christianity believe that those who are "saved" will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, the term "rapture" is usually applied specifically to those theories saying that Christians alive before the end of the world will be taken into heaven, and there will be an intermediate time frame where non-Christians will be still left on earth before Christ arrives to set up his earthly kingdom.

Etymology

The word "rapture" comes from the Latin verb rapere which means "to carry off" or "catch up". It was used in the Latin Vulgate (about 405 A.D.) translation of 1 Thessalonians 4:17, which is the primary biblical reference to the event in question.

Varying views

There are two main viewpoints (within the premillennial school) which concern the timing of the Rapture.

Pre-tribulation

A popular view, and the view taught in dispensationalism, is referred to as the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, or simply "Pre-Trib". This is the belief that the Rapture will occur at the beginning of the 70th Week of Daniel, the final seven years of this age. Christian believers will be translated into immortal bodies in the Rapture before the persecutions by the Harlot Church and before the Antichrist comes into his Beast role midway through the final seven years. According to this view, the Church has no vital role of witness during the Harlot years, and no role of witness during the three and a half years, or 1260 days of the Great Tribulation, which follow. The pre-trib rapture is a minority opinion among Christians, but it has become popular in recent years mostly in the United States.

Post-tribulation

The other main view is termed the Post Tribulation Rapture (or "Post-Trib"). This view admits the concept of "rapture" from 1 Thessalonians, but does not see an intervening 7-year period [or 3-year period depending on what scholar you speak to] between the rapture and the "second coming" of Christ. This viewpoint is that Christian believers will be on earth as witnesses to Christ during the entire seven years and right up until the last day of this age. This includes the final three and a half years of the age believed to be the time period of the Antichrist in his malevolent role as the Beast. Both views hold that Christian believers will be either removed from, or protected from, the Doomsday judgement when the wrath of God falls and the wicked are carried off at the end of the age.

Mid-tribulation

A third view is that believers will remain on Earth for the first half of the Tribulation and will be raptured at the mid-point of the seven-year Tribulation, which is the start of the Great Tribulation.

Pre-tribulation rapture already in process

The fourth view is a more recent addition that claims that the Rapture is a three step process according to I Thessalonians 4:13-18. The three steps being the Shout voice trump. The Shout being a message to turn the hearts of the children (last day Christians) to the fathers (Apostolic). Malachi 4:5-6 John the Baptist fulfilled the first part of turning the hearts of the fathers (old covenant) to the children (new covenant)] Therefore, the Rapture has already started and will be completed with the Voice of the Resurrection and the Trump which calls them to the feast in the sky also called the wedding supper.

Tradition and the timing of the rapture

Mathew 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Mathew 24:36 is not referring to the Rapture, it refers to a time when Heaven and Earth pass away. This event takes place at the end of the 1000 year millennial reign of Jesus Christ. Look at the subject being referred to. It is when Heaven and Earth pass away.

Mathew 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Mathew 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

God's 40 day warning of the rapture

A common interpretation that is quite popular is sometimes referred to as the "Dead in Christ". In the Apostle Paul's first letter to the Church at Thessalonica, he told them that before the Rapture would occur an event would take place that would leave no doubt of the impending Rapture. He told them to watch for "the dead in Christ to rise first"!

I Thes. 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.

This is an event that will mimic an event that took place at the time of Jesus' resurrection and is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 27, and verses 52& 53.

Matt 27:52,53 27:52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which were dead arose,

27:53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

Known dead people will be brought back to life in a 'spiritual' body and appear to living people in Jerusalem. That is the Gospel account of what happened the first time, and it is what Paul is empathically explaining to watch for this time.

Additionally the Gospel records, that after Jesus raised from the dead He remained on earth for 40 days and then He ascended into heaven. According to the "Rapture" theory, Paul is explaining that this is the same sequence of events that will take place at the time of the Rapture of the Church. He is demonstrating that the Ascension of Jesus into heaven is indisputably linked as a foreshadow to the Rapture of the Church. And, because the Church is called the Body of Christ this is said to be the 'Body of Christ' going up into heaven in both instances.

Paul is also saying that from the time the 'dead in Christ' raise from the dead this time, they will stay on earth for 40 days [just like their predecessors did in Matthew 27: 52,53] and then they will be Raptured along with those that are a live and waiting for the 40th day to arrive. The living are waiting for the 40th day because they knew the warning sign had taken place 40 days prior.

And lastly, Paul sets the timing for both the 'dead in Christ to rise' as well as the Rapture when he says that Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the Jewish Feast of First Fruits and ascended 40 days later. That interpolates into the 'dead in Christ' will rise this time on the Jewish Feast of First Fruits and the Rapture of the Church will happen 40 days later. And all that comes together to say that the warning sign for the Rapture of the Church is the 'dead in Christ' rising on First Fruits, a spring time feast.

Expected events

According to the Rapture interpretation, in the near future dead believers in Jesus will be brought back to life and believers who have never died will be changed in the "twinkling of an eye" and both groups will be taken up to heaven.

Image of person ascending to Heaven. The Greek word is pronounced "harpazo", which means to "be caught up".

"Secret rapture"

A common interpretation that is quite popular is sometimes referred to as the "secret Rapture". Corinthians says Christians will all be transformed in an instant. Thessalonians says Christians will be caught up. Nothing says humans will be caught up in an instant (and disappear instantaneously). According to the Bible, when Jesus returned to heaven his followers saw him go up. When Elijah was taken up Elisha saw him go up. Some views posit that there is no scriptural instance of a person vanishing instantly, which is what the "secret Rapture" interpretation teaches; however, in the Old Testament, Enoch was "raptured" by God instantaneously: "And Enoch walked with God: and he [was] not; for God took him" (Genesis 5:24).

In Russ Doughten's A Thief in the Night, the Rapture was depicted as people disappearing. In Left Behind, it was depicted as people disappearing, but leaving their clothes behind in a pile. If they were driving cars, they careen into other cars upon losing their drivers. The view is echoed in the popular bumper sticker which reads "In case of Rapture, this car will be unmanned." While some of these views may have been popular for many years beforehand, there is no doubt that these Hollywood movies have influenced some people's thinking on the "rapture".

Scriptural basis

Supporters for this belief generally cite the following primary sources in the New Testament:

  • "Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left." (Matthew 24:40-41)
  • "[Christ] shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." (Philippians 3:21)

Generally, an elaborate set of predictions about the end times is constructed from these sets of verses, together with various interpretations of the Book of Revelation and the predictions of Christ's return in Matthew 24:30-36. In general, believers in the rapture consider the present to be the end times, and offer interpretations of the various symbolisms in the book of Revelation in terms of contemporary world events.

Criticism

  • Matthew 24:40-41 is not referring to the Rapture.

Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

Look at the same verse in Luke 17:35-37

Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, (literal translation) Wheresoever the dead body fallen in battle is, there will the vultures be gathered together.

This is not the rapture of the church. Jesus answers that these people are taken to a battlefield and are dead and putrefying having fallen in battle which is pointing to an event later in time referred to in Revelation 16:14.

For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

The rapture is a relatively new doctrine. It was only discovered/revealed in the 1800s.

Many do not accept the "rapture" interpretation because they feel it is not clearly expressed in the Bible, and instead relies on extrapolations and inferences made from a patchwork of disjointed verses. Many further feel that if anything this significant were intended to be a major part of Christian teaching, then surely Christ would have made a plain reference to it in his own sermons as recorded in the Gospel, and not buried such a major prophecy in a few obscure, unconnected verses of the Apostle Paul.

One common criticism of the rapture is based on the principle that the necessity of believing in Christ would be proven, by the events of the rapture, to anyone left behind. Thus anyone left behind who had knowledge of the rapture theory, but previously did not believe in Christ, would essentially be forced, by the proof of this miracle, to believe. This would prevent any type of Antichrist from having any credibility.

Most Roman Catholics and many Protestants do not accept the concept of a rapture in which some are "taken up into Heaven" before the end of the world; this idea did not exist in the teachings of any Christians whatsoever until the 1800s, so it cannot be said to belong to Apostolic Tradition. Instead, most Catholics and many Protestants interpret 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 literally, and assert that the rapture will immediately follow the general resurrection on Judgement Day, when the living and the newly-resurrected-dead will rise up to meet Christ as he descends from heaven to judge the world. These people consider the rapture to be merely a minor detail in the Biblical description of the Second Coming of Christ.

Eastern Orthodox do not accept it either, as such a thing as "rapture" was never taught by any of their bishops, from the beginning. Instead of "being taken up into Heaven", these churches follow the scriptures (such as Isaiah) clearly describing a physical Kingdom of Heaven that will be on a renewed Earth, following the Great Tribulation, the Resurrection of the Dead, and Judgement Day. In this view, there is no "being taken up into Heaven", except perhaps in the sense that departed souls await their earthly Resurrection in some sort of Purgatory.

Barbara R. Rossing, a Lutheran minister, challenges the idea of the rapture in her 2004 book The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation. In it, she discusses the history of dispensationalism, arguing that the Biblical verses cited in support of the rapture are grossly taken out of context and misinterpreted.

There are also a number of other scriptural problems with the rapture theory. Those scriptures offered in support of the rapture do not require a rapture for their fulfillment; there is no New Testament scripture that states there will never be a planet Earth that is absent the New Testament church. Plus, inasmuch as the rapture theory requires belief that Christ will visit the Earth not once more- but twice- it's important to note that the New Testament speaks of Christ's return in the singular only.

The question to ask is, does the church meet Christ, then exit the area, or meet Christ as he returns in fulfillment of the angel's description in Acts 1:9-11: "After [Jesus] said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. '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.'" Thus, we find Jesus standing on the ground, taken up into the sky, then hidden in a cloud. The angel said Christ would return the same way: He will appear from a cloud, descend to the ground, and place his feet on the earth. From this it would appear likely that Christ will return just as the angel foretold, and that the church will simply meet him upon his return.

The word "meet" in the New Testament (Strong's, 529) is always used in the context of intercepting someone who is on their way toward the person meeting them.

As for Christ's words, "as it was in the days of Noah", we again find reason to question the pre-tribulation rapture theory. The Bible indicates that in the days of Noah, it was the wicked who were taken, and the righteous (the eight members of Noah's family) were first lifted from the earth, then returned to it; the righteous thus remained. Fallen angels also married human women according to one interpretation of Genesis 6:1-2, Genesis 6:4, Daniel 2:43, 2 Peter 2:4, and the Book of Enoch. However, the older interpretation is that these verses refer to intermarriage between descendants of Seth and those of Cain. The "Left Behind" series is liberal since its conception because Matthew 24:36 is largely ignored; fallen angels don't fornicate with human women and Nephilim don't walk the Earth in the series even though this is what Jesus is thought to have indirectly implied would come to pass in the Last Days.

The post-tribulation rapture is entirely consistent with the primary rapture text in I Thessalonians 4:17. The text there could just as easily be interpreted to mean that the church will rise to meet Christ as he returns to earth, the wicked below will be swept to destruction as it was in the days of Noah, (they will worship fallen angels) and then the church will descend to the earth with the Eternal King.

Rebuttal

  • However, this may not be so, as God sends them a deluding influence, backed up by many signs and false wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:11).
  • Furthermore, the Old Testament book of Exodus records that God appeared to the Israelites in a Theophany, as a visible pillar of fire or smoke, and bestowed daily miracles, yet many of the people rebelled against God.
  • Additionally, in Luke 16:31 Jesus states of unbelievers, "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead." (NIV)
  • When comparing the end times to the Flood, the Rapture of the Church can correspond to the translation of Enoch in Genesis 5:24. "Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away." (NIV) Meanwhile, Noah and his family who endure the judgement and survive correspond to redeemed Israel. It is theorized that those that became believers during the tribulation and were not martyred would retain their physical bodies for Christ's 1000 year rule on Earth after the Beast was vanquished to hell. This would explain an Earth "in the days of Noah", when the righteous were left.
  • After Revelation chapter 3, we see God calling John to, "Come up here." Some believe this refers to the end of the church age because it follows the passages in Revelation about the churches and because John is called and taken up.
  • Some believe that Jesus refers to the rapture in Matthew 24. These same people generally believe that Matthew 24:37 ("But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be") correlates to Genesis 5:24 ("And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him"). In Matthew, Jesus may be referring to a future rapture by referencing a past one.
  • The doctrine of the rapture may be a new discovery (e.g. found in the 1800s), but this doesn't discount its validity. Some cite Daniel 12:4 because it reads, "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase."

History

Little attention was paid to these verses before the Protestant Reformation, and consequently most Christian denominations who have beliefs concerning a "rapture" are those that appeared after the Reformation.

The popularization of the term is associated with teaching of John Nelson Darby and the rise of premillennialism and dispensationalism in the United States at the end of the 19th century.

Among Christians who believe in the Rapture there is substantial debate about Pre-Trib, Mid-Trib or Post-Trib. Critics of Pre-Trib often claim that Pre-Trib was started by a 15-year old Scottish-Irish girl named Margaret MacDonald (a follower of Edward Irving) who had a vision in 1830. However, Darby was a highly regarded preacher and biblical scholar who taught the Pre-Trib Rapture at least as early as 1827 and a detailed analysis of the text of MacDonald's description of her vision, published in 1840, shows that she said the Holy Spirit would protect the Church through the time of trial--in other words, her statement is Post-Trib.

Belief in the rapture became popular in some Christian circles during the 1970s, in part thanks to the books of Hal Lindsey, including The Late Great Planet Earth. Many of Lindsey's predictions in that book, which assumed that the rapture was imminent, were based on world conditions at the time. The Cold War figured prominently in their predictions of Armageddon, and other aspects of 1970s global politics were seen as having been predicted in the Bible. Lindsey believed, for example, that the 10-headed beast cited in Revelation was the European Economic Community, which at the time consisted of ten nations.

Many Christians continue to believe in the rapture, with their interpretations of biblical eschatology having been updated to reflect changes in world conditions. This belief is largely limited to the USA, although it is widespread there.

The Rapture in media

  • The Rapture is a major component of the premise of the Left Behind books and their various spin-offs. Again these books greatly revived public interest in this concept.
  • Episode 19 in season 16 of The Simpsons, titled "Thank God, it's Doomsday" features Homer predicting the Rapture. After seeing a movie titled "Left Below" (a parody of "Left Behind"), he becomes paranoid and predicts that the Rapture will occur at 3:15 PM on May 18.

See also

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