Presented here are the solid Scriptural attestations that there is indeed a rapture of the Church prior to the final seven years of God's Judgment of Israel and the world. Many are surprised to discover that both the apostle Paul and Jesus taught the rapture; however, Jesus' teaching of such was veiled by parable and allusion (Matthew 25:1–13; John 14:2–3) until Paul unveiled the mystery (1 Corinthians 15:51). Understanding the event of the rapture correctly will bring newfound confidence in one's discipleship to Jesus Christ, as well as rekindled hope in one's future and the zealousness required to effectively share the Gospel.
Two factors merit such missionary zeal: First, the availability of the Bible in common and multiple languages allows every individual to personally experience the "simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Cor. 11:3). For example, when one reads for themselves the Lord's command to "Go, and make disciples of all nations," one is inclined to obey it, literally. And secondly, the past few hundred years have witnessed a resurrection of study and preaching regarding Jesus' appearance in the clouds to gather His Bride, and also His subsequent return to earth, for both had all but disappeared by the end of the third century AD.
The doctrine of Christ's return, when taught properly in its Scriptural and prophetic contexts, will always result in a consecrated Church that is "in the world but not of it," ever increasing in ardent passion for evangelism and mission outreach toward fulfilling the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20).
The Bride of Christ is the True Church
To wholly understand the rapture one must grasp who and what the Church is. The New Testament utilizes two senses of "the church": 1) the universal Church (i.e. the Body of Christ), which includes all believers from Pentecost to Rapture, and 2) the local Church, which is geographically and temporally limited yet is a visible and practical manifestation of the Church universal in that local churches act as "members of one Body" reaching the world in diverse ways according to their mission and spiritual giftings (1 Cor. 12:12-14, 27). Herein, the Church exists because of Christ and for Christ, a verdict rooted in Scripture since the Father of glory put all things under Christ's feet and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body... (Ephesians 1:22-23)
Thus, the Passion of the Christ necessitates the Passion of the Church, for the Church has been saved and sanctified by Him (Eph. 5:25-29), purchased by Him (Acts 20:28), founded on Him (Eph. 2:19-20), built by Him (Matt. 16:18), is subject to Him (Rom. 7:4), and is loved by Him (Eph. 5:25). A picture of the consummation of these truths can be glimpsed in Revelation 19:7-8:
"Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and His wife has made herself ready.
And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright,
for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints."
The Lamb, of course, is Jesus Christ. The Lamb's wife is the Church (Eph. 5:22-23). Though Israel had been regarded as the "wife of Jehovah" throughout the Old Testament, she was consistently unfaithful and eventually "cut off" (rejected), leading to the Gentiles/non-Jews being "grafted in" to the Root/Christ (Rom. 11:11, 20), thus bringing Salvation to the world. Therefore, Israel cannot be the wife of the Lamb since the remnant of Israel, and thus all Israel, will not be saved until they see Him at His return accompanied by His Church/wife (Rev. 19:7-8, 14). Only then will they see Him as their true Messiah and consequently be "grafted back in" from whence they were cut off (Rom. 11:23, 25-27), being restored to a highly blessed position of authority beside Christ and His Church.(1)
The Rapture of the Church & Marriage of the Lamb
Keen awareness of ancient Jewish marriage customs leads to greater comprehension and appreciation concerning the rapture and the Lamb's wedding celebration, for Jesus often alluded to three aspects of Jewish marriage as a reference point for His instruction, a method employed to introduce new teaching through familiar means:
1) The parents of both bride and groom formed a marriage contract, with the parents of the groom paying a dowry to the parents of the bride. A betrothal ceremony expressed the agreement that the couple were now man and wife and were expected to act faithfully, though they would not live together for nearly a year. This was the legal marriage.
2) After about a year, the groom, accompanied by his friends, would proceed to his bride's house at midnight by way of a parade of torches and lamps. The bride would be expecting him and would have made herself ready with her maidens; she and her maidens would then join the procession and return with the groom to his father's house for the marriage supper/celebration.
3) The marriage supper was a celebration consisting of all friends and family involved with the bride and groom and could last for several days, as seen at the wedding in Cana (John 2:1-12).
The first aspect, the betrothal ceremony, is performed on earth when an individual places his/her trust in Jesus Christ as Savior, the dowry having been paid by Christ's own blood. Any unfaithfulness of a believer is spiritual adultery in that such would violate the betrothal/promise to Jesus.
The second aspect of the marriage is illustrated through the rapture of the Church when Christ appears in the clouds to claim His bride and take her with Him to His Father's house (in heaven) where she is found worthy to be His bride and is "granted to be arrayed in righteousness" (as refined by the Judgment Seat of Christ; 2 Cor. 5:10; Psalm 17:15; Rev. 19:8). Also examine the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-13 for a striking circumstantial evaluation of the present-day Church and the importance of being ready and watchful for Jesus' arrival!
The third aspect, the marriage supper, is announced in Revelation 19:9 and commences in heaven following the bride being made ready by adorning the fine white linen which represents "the righteous acts of the saints" (Rev. 19:8), offering further proof that the bride is the Church. Succeeding the marriage supper is the preparation for the return to earth with Jesus and the heavenly hosts (Rev. 19:14). And in light of all this it is grandly significant to recall that the Church has been in heaven experiencing these events whilst God's wrath (Rev. 6-19) has poured onto the earth... therein exempting the Church from such Judgment for Christ Himself suffered His Father's wrath in His wife's stead when He endured the Cross (2 Peter 2:5-9; Rev. 3:10).
Two Shall Become One Flesh
"Wives, submit to your husbands, as to the Lord.
For the husband is the head of the wife,
as also Christ is the head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.
Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ,
so let wives be to their own husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives,
just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,
that He might present her to Himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
but that she should be holy and without blemish.
So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies;
he who loves his wife loves himself.
For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it,
just as the Lord does the church.
For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.
This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church."
(Ephesians 5:22-32)
In his letter to the Church in Ephesus Paul accentuates the mysterious yet practical correlation between human marriage and the Church's relationship to Christ, particularly the prime detail of "two becoming one flesh," further reinforcing the fact that the Church will not suffer God's wrath at the end of the age, for "there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1). This truth is echoed again when Jesus Himself extended comforting words to the Church in Philadelphia (and to us today): "Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth" (Rev. 3:10).
The "hour of trial" is equivalent to the "time of Jacob's trouble" (Jeremiah 30:7), the "seventieth week" (Dan. 9:24-27), and the time of future "tribulation" that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24:9. This period of trial/judgment is hauntingly detailed in chapters 6 through 19 of Revelation and is intended for the hard-hearted unbelievers that "dwell on the earth," and more specifically for the Jews who have yet to recognize Jesus Christ as their Messiah. Those who dwell on the earth in this context are those who will be left behind when Christ gathers His Church unto Himself in the clouds, i.e. the rapture. The prominent unbelieving populous will echo Pharaoh's nihilistic response to God's judgments in that their hearts will harden ever deeper as God's wrath intensifies; the purpose of such judgment, however, is to provoke repentance. But "they blasphemed God, and did not repent of their deeds" (Rev. 16:11).
It is notable (for those who deny a pre-tribulation rapture) that Jesus specifies the "hour of trial" as being sent for the benefit of "those who dwell on the earth" as opposed to the Church He is actively assuring will be kept from said "trial," clearly implying that the Church Body will not be on earth during the Tribulation/time of Jacob's trouble, for the Church "having now been justified by His blood, shall be saved from wrath through Him" (Rom. 5:9).
The Mystery of the Rapture
While it is true that the term "rapture" is not found in the Bible, the word is an expression for the Latin words rapere and raptura as well as the Greek word harpazo, each meaning "to be caught up" or "snatched away," two phrases that are indeed found in Scripture. This "snatching away" of believers from the earth is an imminent event and there are no precise signs that must precede it. Jesus will appear in the air (only to be seen by His true disciples) and call all believers to Him in an instant, dead and living. The dead, whose spirits have been with the Lord since death, are reunited with their now incorruptible perfect bodies, while the living at the time of rapture instantly experience a bodily transformation into perfection:
"Behold, I tell you a mystery:
We shall not all sleep [die physically], but we shall all be changed-
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible.
And we shall be changed... Death is swallowed up in victory."
(1 Corinthians 15:51-54)
"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 [dead].
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 shall rise first.
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.
Therefore comfort one another with these words."
(1 Thessalonians 4:15-18)
Comfort one another with these words. Sadly, many do not comfort one another with these words because they feel that topics like the rapture are controversial, even with such truth being clearly and simply taught in Scripture. Apparently, some do not believe previously hidden mysteries to have yet been revealed, despite being in direct contrast to passages such as that above where mysteries are explicitly being revealed!
It is also important to note that the rapture is not Jesus' Second Advent. At the rapture, Jesus appears in the clouds to believers only, who are called up to meet Him. He does not set foot upon the earth at this time. His return at the end of the seven-year Judgment/Tribulation(2), however, will be witnessed by all, believers and unbelievers, and Christ will literally set foot upon the earth, specifically onto the Mount of Olives just outside Jerusalem. To appraise the distinction between these two events, compare the apostle Paul's description of the rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 to Jesus' description of His Second Advent in Matthew 24:27-31.
Of course, there will be Gentiles and Jews who experience the saving grace of Christ during the Judgment, having been left behind at the rapture for not being a "born again"(3) believer at the time. And these "tribulation saints" will abide terrible persecution, calamity, and martyrdom for the sake of Christ, although the focus of the "time of Jacob's trouble," as evidenced by the name, is on Israel's unbelief and not the purging of the Church through trials. Further, evidence testifying to God's wrath being focused upon Israel and not the Church rests in the extensive use of Old Testament language (symbols and typology) in Revelation chapters 6-19.
All told, the purpose of the rapture is to save the Church (Christ's Bride; Rev. 19:7-9) from the Day of God's Wrath, for, as stated previously, Jesus suffered such as He endured the Cross. The Father will not judge His Son's flesh again, for after His Atoning Sacrifice Jesus did avow that "It is finished" (John 19:30).
All told, the purpose of the rapture is to save the Church (Christ's Bride; Rev. 19:7-9) from the Day of God's Wrath, for, as stated previously, Jesus suffered such as He endured the Cross. The Father will not judge His Son's flesh again, for after His Atoning Sacrifice Jesus did avow that "It is finished" (John 19:30).
~Additional Biblical events offer prophetic foreshadowing of the rapture:
*Enoch was translated, or raptured, into God's presence (Genesis 5:18-24; Hebrews 11:5)
*Elijah was also "raptured" into heaven by a whirlwind (2 King 2:1, 11)
*Elijah was also "raptured" into heaven by a whirlwind (2 King 2:1, 11)
*God saved Noah and his family from the global Flood judgment (Gen. 7-8)
*God saved Lot from the fiery destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19)
*Jesus was translated into heaven by rapturous Ascension (Mark 16:19)
2 Peter 2:5-9 states simply that "the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment."
Notes:
1. Israel's restoration after Christ's return disallows the false teaching of "replacement theology," which insists that the Church forever replaces Israel as the priesthood/Light among nations. In truth, Israel will ultimately enjoy a place beside Christ and His Church as a distinct but equal entity sharing in the "priestly" rule of God's Kingdom. Rev. 21:9-27 reveals the holy city (the Bride's dwelling place prepared for her per John 14:2-3) as having twelve gates with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel inscribed on them, and also having twelve foundations inscribed with the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
That Israel's identity is inscribed on the gates possibly represents the idea that it was through Judaism that Christianity came into the world, while the Church's identity inscribed on the foundations is made explicitly clear in Ephesians 2:19-20, Luke 22:29-30, and Matthew 16:18-19.
2. The seven-year Tribulation refers to the final Judgment of God on Israel and an unrepentant world prior to Jesus Christ's return to establish His Kingdom on earth. The most exhaustive prophecies recorded concerning this end-time Judgment are found in the book of Revelation, chapters 6-19. This time frame is also known as the Seventieth Week, a "week" being a span of seven years in relation to Judaic prophetic reckoning. Daniel 9:24-27 introduces this template with verse 27 describing the final or seventieth week that is, again, thoroughly expounded in Rev. 6-19.
3. See John 3:1-21
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