The Rapture of the Church

Are Christians taken out of this world prior to the Great Tribulation?

Do they escape God’s end-time judgements of a godless world?

Do they escape ‘the mark of the beast’?

Here are some key theological concepts associated with the Rapture. The following is based upon Daniel’s 70-Week Prophecy over Israel (see Appendix):

1. Views of the Rapture
2. The Pre-Tribulation Rapture
3. The Rapture Ends the Church Age
4. The First Resurrection (the Harvest)
5. The Tribulation Saints
6. Rewards in Heaven and the Marriage of the Bride
7. The Near-Future

1. Views of the Rapture

When referring to His return, Jesus said:

For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away.

So will the coming of the Son of Man be. At that time 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. 

It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, and they were building; but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.

(Matthew 24:37-41, Luke 17:28-30)

Who is “Taken”?

Opponents of Rapture theology miss a fundamental point. They argue that it is unbelievers who are “taken”. But by referring to the days of Noah and Lot, Jesus clearly implies that in the near future it is believers who are “taken” out of a godless world prior to its judgement, just as Noah and Lot were “taken” out of godless societies. In both historical cases God’s people were taken prior to God’s judgement on unbelievers. It will be the same in the Rapture.

Note that the Greek word for ‘taken’ is ‘paralambano’, which means ‘to take into close association with oneself’, in a loving positive sense. So the Rapture is a friendly taking of the true church of Jesus Christ before earth’s tribulations begin. In contrast, the Greek word for ‘left’ is ‘aphiemi’ and means ‘to leave, forsake, omit or lay aside’. A literal reading of the Bible implies that unbelievers, together with the false church, are left to suffer during the subsequent 7-year Tribulation (Daniels 70th Week)! The theologian and evangelist John Wesley put it like this:

One is taken into God’s immediate protection: and one is left to share the common calamities

This supernatural event is often referred to as the “Rapture’. The word is not in the Bible, although the concept is found in major New Testament texts (see later). It is derived from the Latin verb ‘Rapere,’ meaning ‘to snatch’ or ‘take away’, link.

Many Institutionalised Churches Reject the Rapture

The discourses in Matthew and Luke are perhaps the clearest and most direct reference to the sudden separation of living believers from unbelievers. Not surprisingly, such “fundamentalist theology” is rarely preached in institutionalised churches. Perhaps such a mysterious, literally ‘out of this world’ event takes the average believer out of their comfort zone?

Whatever the reason, the topic tends to be suppressed. Some theological arguments against the teaching of the rapture are:

• it is a fringe subject not essential to fundamental Christian beliefs
• key rapture texts are ambiguous, especially in the timing of the rapture
• those who are “taken” are unbelievers, not believers
• Daniel’s 70 Weeks have all elapsed (Historicist view); the 70th Week is not future
• Christ’s Second Coming will be clear to all; it does not first involve a “secret” return

2. The Pre-Tribulation Rapture

In contrast to the suppression of the Rapture in many institutionalised churches, the concept is widely taught in free-churches. These churches tend to hold a more fundamentalist view of Bible prophecy. Some believe there will be a short time interval between ‘the taking’ and the actual return of Jesus to earth. In the so-called Pre-Tribulation view, this time interval corresponds to ‘Week 70’ (seven prophetic years) of Daniel’s “Seventy-Week” prophecy. See the Appendix.

The time interval spans the Seals, Trumpets and Bowls of Revelation 6-18. It is a time of God’s wrath on a godless World Government under the two “beasts” of Revelation 13. The good news is that, from the Gospels to Revelation, there are promises of deliverance for today’s believers. Taking the widely accepted Pre-Tribulation view of the rapture, it seems they will simply not be there!

A common view is that the true church – the Philadelphia-type church that Jesus loves in Revelation 3 – will simply not be on earth at the start of Daniel’s Week 70. From the Gospels to Revelation Jesus promises to deliver this relatively small group of faithful believers from the “Day” of horrors soon to come upon a rebellious, godless world:

That Day will come on you unexpectedly . . . it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.  Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass . . . (Luke 21:34-36)

Because you have kept My word of perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of the testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who live on the earth. (Revelation 3:10, emphasis added)

Revelation 3:10 gives strong scriptural justification for placing the Rapture at or near the start of Week 70, before earth’s “hour of testing” (the 7-year Tribulation period). This is the common Pre-Tribulation View held by many evangelical Christians (see also Nine Proofs of a Pre-Tribulation Rapture). The term “will keep” means “to guard from loss or injury” [Strong’s G5083]. So here the risen Jesus is promising the faithful end-time churches like the ancient Philadelphia church that He will protect them when the world’s hour of trial comes.

3. The Rapture Ends the Church Age

As already discussed, the Church Age (or Age of Grace) will soon end. Clearly, after true believers and followers of Christ are suddenly taken, the true church is suddenly absent from the earth! Today the key mission of the church is to spread the good news of salvation through Christ. The church is like a “door” to salvation.

But in the parable of the ten virgins, Jesus said that way or “door” will suddenly “shut” (Matthew 25:1-13, Luke 13:25). This suggests an urgent need to preach the Gospel. Time is short. There is a need to be ready for Christ’s return. In the parable, those who have heard the Gospel but have not responded (the unwise virgins) lose out. They don’t go on to “the marriage of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:7). There will be much “weeping and gnashing of teeth”.

4. The First Resurrection

The Rapture is Fundamental to the Resurrection of Believers

The Rapture is fundamental to New Testament teaching since it is the main harvest of the First Resurrection. The book of Revelation sees a harvest of believers:

Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle … So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.

Revelation 14:14-16

This is a vision of Jesus reaping the good harvest of the earth – from a cloud. There is no mention of Jesus actually coming to stand on the earth at this point in time! Believers are separated from those who are about to suffer the wrath of God (Revelation 14:17-20) and are taken to meet Christ in the clouds:

For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel and with the [blast of the] trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain [on the earth] will simultaneously be caught up [raptured] together with them [the resurrected ones] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord!

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, AMP

It all happens instantaneously and unexpectedly (Matthew 24:44):

Behold, I tell 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 trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality

1 Corinthians 15:51-53

The Trumpets

Paul refers to “the last trumpet’ – a translation of the Greek ‘sálpigks‘ meaning a quavering or reverberating trumpet [Strong’s 4536]. The Orthodox Jewish Bible refers to “the last shofar blast”. The implication in both texts is that there is more than one trump of the trumpet. Some see two trumps – the first calling the dead in Christ to immortality, the last calling those who are alive at His coming to immortality, link.

Also, it is incorrect to see Paul’s ‘last trumpet’ as the seventh and final trumpet in Revelation 11:15, link. In verse 52 of Corinthians it is God sounding the resurrection trumpet (1 Thessalonians 4:16), whereas in Revelation it is the the seventh angel trumpeting the final judgements.

Distinguish between Reaping and Gathering

Revelation 14:14-16 pictures Christ reaping a good harvest of saints. Revelation 14:17-20 pictures an angel, not Christ, gathering the vine of the earth for judgement, link.

Other Saints are Part of the First Resurrection

Besides the true church, the First Resurrection involves other saints. At Christ’s resurrection “many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised” (Matthew 27:52-53). As Paul puts it, Christ had become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 15:20).

5. The Tribulation Saints

The mysterious instantaneous removal of millions of people – the true church – will be a shock to the world. According to Revelation, in the absence of the true church, God seals 144,000 of His servants to be His witness to the Gentile nations (Revelation 7:3-8, Isaiah 66:19).

This is the time of Daniel’s Week 70 (see Appendix) – the time between the Pre-Tribulation rapture and Christ’s physical return to earth (see the Appendix). During this time multitudes from all nations come to salvation (the Holy Spirit is still present to convict of sin), but at great cost. Many will be martyred (Revelation 6:9) for their faith under the brief reign of the two beasts of Revelation 13. For this reason the brief period at the very end of this age is referred to as “the great tribulation” (Revelation 7:14, Matthew 24:15-22).

These martyred saints are the last of the earth’s ‘good harvest’ and so are included in the First Resurrection (Revelation 7:9-10, 20:4). They are special in the sense that they are “before the throne of God, serving Him day and night in His temple”. The same applies to the martyred Jewish believers in Israel and the martyred 144,000 servants of God. The latter are found in heaven singing a new song before the throne of God (Revelation 14:1-5).

The Gleanings of the Harvest

So what happens to the “Tribulation saints”; those who suffer in the Great Tribulation (Revelation 7:9-17)? As already discussed, after the rapture of the church, multitudes will turn to Christ during the last few years of this age (Week 70). Many will be martyred by the Antichrist but they will be raised to reign with Christ in the Millennium (Revelation 20:4-6). Finally, all those who accept the reigning Christ during the Millennium will also be raised at the end of the 1,000 years.

6. Rewards in Heaven and the Marriage of the Lamb

What happens to believers after they are gathered together in the air with Christ? Consider the following scriptures:

In My Father’s house are many mansions … I go to prepare a place for you … and I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also [the “taking” of the saints] (John 14:2-3)

Now the one who plants and the one who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labour (1 Corinthians 3:8)

Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to reward each one as his work deserves (Revelation 22:12)

 Let’s rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has prepared herself (Revelation 19:7, amplified)

And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other [the “gathering” of the resurrected saints] (Matthew 24:31, NKJV, amplified)

When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory [the “return” of the saints] (Colossians 3:4, amplified)

These texts suggest a period of rest with Christ for resurrected, immortal believers. It seems resurrected believers are rewarded in heaven and presented to Christ as His bride before they return to earth with Him. This time in heaven appears to correspond to the time spanned by Daniel’s Week 70.

7. The Near Future

Comparing today’s world scenario with end-time prophecy suggests that the end of the Church Age and the start of Week 70 is relatively imminent. In other words, the Rapture is imminent! Then, at the end of Week 70 (at the end of the Great Tribulation) Jesus physically returns to earth with His resurrected saints to establish Himself as “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS” (Revelation 19:11-21), 1 Thessalonians 3:13). According to Daniel chapter 9, He comes “to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up the vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place”.

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Appendix

Daniel’s 70-Week Prophecy

Rapture theology involves several theological concepts:

• focus is on the true end-time church (not the false end-time church)
• the nation Israel returns to her own land, as promised to Abraham
• the true church is rescued from “the hour of trial” coming upon a godless world
• the Rapture is probably just prior to “Week 70” of Daniel’s “70 Week” prophecy

Daniel’s prophecy in chapter 9 sets the context of the mysterious rapture. How is it to be read? It is logical to adopt prophetic interpretations that agree closely with reality. That is, with what we observe in the world today. In this respect, the Futurist view of Bible prophecy (as opposed to the Historicist view) appears particularly relevant.

The Futurist view holds that majority of the end-time prophecies in the Old and New Testaments apply to the future. This view also sees Christ’s return as tied to what happens to Israel at the end of the age. Here’s Daniel’s key prophecy concerning his people, Israel:

Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people [Israel] and your holy city [Jerusalem], to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place

Daniel 9:24, 4, amplified

Here Daniel is using scripture’s ‘prophetic years‘, where each month has 30 days, each year has twelve months [360 days] and each “week” has seven 360-day years. Week 70 is the final seven (360-day) years of this age, after which Christ returns to earth!

The Futurist View: A Time Gap

Futurists see a time-gap between the end of Week 69 (the crucifixion of Christ) and the start of Week 70. There are sound theological reasons why such a time gap exists. After all, if Week 70 elapsed around the time of Christ (the Historicist view) there is no framework within which to fit many end-time prophecies. For example, how would we interpret Jeremiah 30:4-7; Daniel 7:23-28; Daniel 11:11,21-45; Daniel 12:11-12; Matthew 24; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4; Revelation 7:3-8; Revelation 12:6 and Revelation 13? See Week 70 and End Time Pilgrim for detailed theological discussions of the Futurist view.

The duration of the time gap is undefined in scripture. In other words, the exact start of Week 70 is not defined. But we do know from prophecy that during this time gap the nation Israel essentially disappears off the world scene! As God had warned, Israel would be scattered throughout the nations if they persistently rebelled against Him (Deuteronomy 28:64). This happened. Around 750 BC we find the northern kingdom of Israel being warned of such scattering:

For the sons of Israel will live FOR MANY DAYS without a king or leader, without sacrifice or memorial stone, and without ephod or household idols.  AFTERWARD the sons of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in THE LAST DAYS.

Hosea 3:4-5, emphasis added

Here the prophet Hosea warns Israel that they will lose their identity for many days. This happened. In 722 BC Assyria swept out of the north, captured the northern kingdom of Israel, and took the ten tribes into captivity. The southern kingdom, Judah, ceased to exist around 586 BC after the final Babylonian invasion, and by 70 AD the Jews in Jerusalem were finally dispersed worldwide by Titus. At this point in time, the scattering of the twelve tribes of Israel was complete (James 1:1).

But note Hosea’s prophecy. He also says that Israel will return to God in the last days. So after an undisclosed period of time – a time gap – Israel will once more become visible on the world scene.

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