Contemplating the rapture

After writing what I did yesterday about “Left Behind” I felt compelled to talk in more detail about this concept known as the rapture.

 

First of all, some have criticized the "Left Behind" book series because it operates from what is called the “pre-tribulation” view.  That is, that Jesus will rapture His church prior to the seven year period known as the Tribulation.  But there are other views.  There’s the “mid-tribulation” view (the rapture is in the middle of the Tribulation), and there’s the “post-tribulation” view (the rapture is at the end of the Tribulation).

My reading of the Bible has landed me on the pre-tribulation view.  Let me attempt to explain why.  First of all, one of the main passages that teaches the rapture is 1 Thessalonians 4.  We read, “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 [that is, snatched up quickly, or raptured] with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And so we will be with the Lord forever” (verses 16-17).

With this context of 1 Thessalonians 4 in mind, it’s interesting to then read these words in chapter 5 of 1 Thessalonians: “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (verse 9).  Furthermore, in Revelation 3:10, Jesus says: “I will keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.”  These verses seem to indicate that God will take His church to Heaven so that she will not experience the years of the Tribulation.

Secondly, in Matthew 24 Jesus says, “But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and not have let his house be broken into.  So you must also be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”  There’s imminence in Jesus’ words.  As if He is saying that He could return at any day.  To me, this imagery doesn’t make as much sense if Christians were on Earth for the Tribulation, or for the rise of Antichrist.  These events would certainly get our attention; so if that were the case, why then would the Lord say that His coming would be as surprising a thief in the night?

Third, in Revelation 1-3, the church is referenced several times, but then we read these words in Revelation 4:1, “After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in Heaven.  And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”  The time of the Tribulation is then described in detail, but interestingly, the church is not mentioned being on the Earth.

Let me conclude with a verse from 1 Thessalonians 4.  I already quoted verses 16-17 that mention the rapture of Christ, but notice verse 18; it reads, “Therefore encourage each other with these words.”  Encourage each other with the truth of the rapture of Christ.  Notice that that verse doesn’t say, “Therefore debate each other with these words to the point where divisions occur.”

Whatever the exact time frame may be, the rapture of Jesus Christ is supposed to be a comforting, reassuring thought, not a point of division.  Personally, this whole concept is very comforting for me to contemplate.  This plight on Earth will not last forever; Jesus will one day come and take the Christians to be with Him forever!  This fact is to be celebrated, not fought over to the point of losing friendship and fellowship with a brother or sister in Christ!

Kevin