What Is The Rapture?

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What Is The Rapture?

According to Google, the rapture is “The transporting of believers to Heaven at the Second Coming of Christ.”

Have you ever wondered about the rapture? What would it be like to drive on a major highway and all drivers who believe in Jesus disappear? What if you were traveling via airplane and half the passengers and pilots disappeared? Or, what would it be like if you were sitting in church and not everyone vanished?

Just before Christmas, I bought our dogs’ new collars. I took the old dingy ones off, put their nice new collars on, and left the old ones buckled on the floor. My husband came in the room and said. “Oh, my goodness, has there been a doggy rapture and our dogs are gone?”

What Would The Rapture Be Like?

My mind can get away from me when I think about such things. I mean, can you imagine the chaos that would occur if all believers disappeared at once? What would it feel like to be left behind?

When I worked 911, we had a regular caller that would call from the same payphone on every full moon. One full moon, I answered the phone for this person to shout, “Jesus has come!” My first thought was, “Did I miss it?” Well, the person then continued with graphic information I should not share with you here, and I knew who it was and I had missed nothing.

There are many viewpoints on the rapture. Will there be a rapture? Or have we confused it with the Second Coming of Jesus? Will the rapture occur before, during, or after the tribulation? Will our clothes be left behind (you know you have wondered this)?

Let’s look at what rapture means and where we get this idea from, and the different perspectives on it.

Will There Be A Rapture?

The word rapture is not in the Bible. It is an idea we have created based on a few scriptures. So the first question would be, “Will there actually be a rapture?” Let’s look at the scriptures some believe point to a rapture.

“That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.”

Matthew 24:39b-41NIV

“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. 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.”

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 NIV

“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.”

1 Corinthians 15:51-52

These scriptures are exciting. I long for the day this happens. But do you read these scriptures as a rapture or as the Second Coming of Christ? Because these scriptures do not use a word for rapture, but speak of believers joining Jesus, it has left a lot of room for deliberation.

Now, if we believe this is the Second Coming of Jesus, we can leave it there. But if we believe there is a rapture, separate from the Second Coming, it leads us to three more possible debates. Will it happen before, during, or after the tribulation? You can read last week’s post on the tribulation here.

Pre-Tribulation

If there is a rapture, and a true seven years of tribulation, I raise my hand for this option. According to this belief, the rapture will happen suddenly and unexpectedly. Those who are “raptured” will meet Jesus in the air and will then be with Him forever. Those left behind will be subject to the judgments and woes of the seven years of tribulation.

Mid-Tribulation

The theory behind mid-tribulation is there will be a rapture in the middle of the seven years of tribulation. Many believe that the latter half of the seven years, known as the great tribulation, will be worse than the first.

Post-Tribulation

If you dislike the first two thoughts, you will not like this one. This is the theory that the rapture will happen after the seven years of tribulation.

Focus On What We Know For Sure

Every aspect of the idea of a rapture is controversial. I know which way I would lean, but there is just not enough evidence to be sure. So, we need to focus on what we know for sure, and that is Jesus is coming back.

We do not know when this will happen and we should be wary of those that give specific dates, but we know He is coming and we need to be prepared. I recently wrote a post on what will Jesus find you doing when He returns. You can read that here. I know I want to be found doing everything He has called me to do.

The new testament gives us multiple lists of what we can do while we wait. The book of Jude in its mere twenty-four verses gives us great instruction.

“But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”

Jude 20-23 NIV

Snatch Them From The Fire

I love Jude’s statement, “Be merciful to those who doubt.” Whether or not we admit it, we have all doubted. We are to show mercy to them, pray for them and be there for them to encourage and lift them up. In our doing so, we do the next thing he says, and that is to “snatch them from the fire.”

We would let no one run into a burning building. I believe everyone of us would do something to stop them, so why do we not rescue people from the ultimate fire? A fire that once stepped into, no one can return from.

While reading this, has the Lord already put someone on your heart that you want to rescue? I urge you to keep praying for them, and ask God for opportunities to share your story with them. Part of my online community is teaching others how to share their story. When we do, God opens doors beyond our imagination.

Draw closer to God through scripture memorization. See them here.