Views Of Eschatological Timing
There are numerous views regarding the timing of the Rapture. Some maintain that Matthew 24:3740 refers to the Rapture, pointing out similarities between the two texts, indicating that the Rapture would occur at the parousia of the Lord. Others point out that neither church nor rapture occur in Matthew 24 and there are significant differences between Matthew 24:3740 and 1 Thessalonians 4:1318. As a result, these two texts receive the overwhelming focus within discussions about the Rapture’s timing. The two texts are as follows:
In the amillennial and postmillennial views there are no distinctions in the timing of the Rapture. These views regard that the Rapture, as it is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:1517, would be identical to the Second Coming of Jesus as described in Matthew 24:2931 after the spiritual/symbolic millennium.
In the premillennial view, the Rapture would be before a literal, earthly millennium. Within premillennialism, the pretribulation position distinguishes between the Rapture and the Second Coming as two different events. There are also other positions within premillennialism that differ with regard to the timing of the Rapture.
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Speculation About The Rapture
Those who believe in a future Rapture regard it to be a sudden and cataclysmic event unlike any other phenomenon in history in which millions of people will disappear without warning. As a result, tragic and unexplained accidents will occur on a wide scale basis, ushering in the tribulation period.
Many speculate that non-believers left behind will come to believe in Jesus Christ as a result of the Rapture. Others left behind will remain in disbelief, finding theories to rationalize the bizarre event.
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Raptured Or Left Behind
But doesnt Matthew 24:37-42 say that when Jesus comes, some people will be snatched away and others will be left behind? Lets see what Matthew says. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming .
Matthew says that when Jesus comes it will be like it was in the time of Noahsome people will be saved and other people will be destroyed . Looking more in-depth at Matthews wording, those who are taken when Jesus comes are those who are lost, taken away, and destroyed by the brightness of His coming .
Those who hold to the idea of a secret rapture also believe that there will be seven years of tribulation following the rapture and that during this time individuals who were left on earth will have another opportunity to accept Jesus and be saved. Is there any Bible evidence for this belief?
Bible Verses About The Rapture
Many ask is the rapture biblical and the answer is yes. You will not find the word, but you will find the teaching. The rapture describes the snatching away of the church .
There is no judgment, no punishment, and it will be a glorious day for all believers. At the rapture the dead will rise with new bodies and new bodies will be given to living Christians as well.
In an instant believers will be caught up into the clouds to meet with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Those who are raptured will be with the Lord forever.
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- The Lord does not come to the world at the time of the Rapture, but only reveals himself to the members of His Body. At the time of his resurrection He was only seen by those who believed on Him. Pilate and the High Priest, and those who crucified Him, did not know that He was risen. So it will be at the time of the Rapture. The world will not know that He has been here, and will have no knowledge of Him until He comes with the members of His Body, at the close of the Tribulation. Billy Sunday
Jesus will meet His saints in the air and unbelievers will be left behind.
The rapture will be in an instant.
Christ will come for His bride and take His saints to Heaven.
Only believers will see Christ and we shall be transformed. We shall be like Him.
5. 1 John 3:2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
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Reason : The Rapture Is A Signless Event
Unlike the Second Coming, no signs will precede the Rapture. This is called the doctrine of imminencythat is, the Rapture is imminent it could happen at any moment. Specifically, nothing in Gods prophetic program must take place as a prerequisite to the Rapture. Things may happen but nothing must happen. That means we dont know when it could happen. It could be today or years from today.
Without any warning, Jesus Christ will return to rapture His saints and take them to heaven. Christians must live prepared lives, ready to meet their Savior at any moment.
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View : The Rapture And Return Of Christ Occur Simultaneously At The End Of The Tribulation
Another view maintains that there is only one return of Christ and at his return believers, both those who have already died and those that are still alive, will rise to meet him in the air as he descends. It is called the post-tribulation view because it locates the rapture at end of the tribulation. Those who affirm this view reject the notion of a two-stage return or a separate secret return of Christ for his church prior to the tribulation. Instead it maintains that Christ only returns once and prefer to identify the rapture, as the resurrection of the saints, as a public event. Until the rise of premillennial dispensationalism, this has been the traditional understanding of the church and some form of it is typically affirmed in amillennial, post-millennial, and historical premillennial eschatological readings of Scripture.
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The Fullness Of The Gentiles
Just before Paul wrote that all Israel will eventually be saved, he wrote that a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. It is true that present-day Israel is not receptive to Jesus being the Messiah, so the hardening of the Jews is still occurring, so what is this fullness of the Gentiles that is to come? Is this when God will have saved the very last one He plans to save, and then the end comes? Is there a certain person who will be the last one to be saved and thus, fulfill the time of the Gentiles, and then all of Israel will finally be saved? This verse is not enough to suggest that conclusively. The fullness of the Gentiles could be when their time is up, meaning were still in the time of the Gentiles and that will end with the literal, physical return of Jesus Christ. Jesus did say, Every eye shall see Him.
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What Does The Bible Say About The Rapture
I want to look at three major texts that are often used to point to the rapture in the Bible. There are a few others, but these are the primary sources that are considered the clearest explains of the rapture in the Bible. Lets look at these verses and see if the rapture is Biblical.
What does the Bible say about the rapture:
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. Revelation 4:1
Some say this is the clearest description of the rapture in the Bible.
This view holds that the voice is Jesus speaking to the Church saying come up to heaven. The problem is for this interpretation to work you have to ignore the context of this verse.
Go back to the beginning of the verse After this I looked. Whos the I thats being referred to in this verse. Its John, the one whos receiving this revelation. To then insist that the next sentence is about the church being raptured is totally ignoring the pronoun that started off this verse.
When you ignore the context in which the Bible is written you can quite literally make it say whatever you want. In context this passage has nothing to do with the rapture, rather its a continuation of the vision that John is receiving. Its not addressing the Church and its certainly not talking about the rapture.
Matthew 24
Sure sounds like the rapture doesnt it?
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The Rapture Often Called The Blessed Hope Is Sadly More Hoax Than Hope Even Though The Man Who Started It Had No Intention Of Deceiving Anyone You Need To Know What The Bible Actually Says
The rapture is widely taught and believed in Christianity today. Popular books and movies spin themes around this doctrine that essentially teaches Christ will come back twice, first coming only into the atmosphere to snatch believers away to heaven for several years then actually returning to set foot on the earth.
We live in a time when most are content to get their knowledge of religion secondhand, preferably through dramatic presentations, including stage, screen and novels.
But you cannot afford to neglect your personal responsibility to prove the truth!
Those willing to take a careful look at the Bible will see that the rapture theory doesnt stand up to the scrutiny of Gods Word.
The rapture was popularized in the 1970s by Hal Lindseys writings and more recently by Jim Jenkins and Tim LaHaye in their Left Behind fictional books and films. But where did the idea of the rapture originate?
What The Bible Really Says About The Rapture
What would the end times really be like? A new HBO series airing Sunday night, The Leftovers, attempts to answer that question, sort of. In the show, based on a Tom Perrotta novel, 2% of the global population vanishes suddenly, and without explanation. The disappearance is mostly attributed to some kind of religious event, and the show deals with how life might be afterward for those left behind with all the grief, guilt and confusion that something like that would entail.
Despite the setup, neither the show nor the book are overtly religious. The word rapture is never used at least not in the book and the ranks of the disappeared seem to have been chosen at random. With many sinners among the vanished, the true believers still on earth are left to wonder how they missed the cut.
The word rapture isnt used in the Holy Bible, but the idea of Judgment Day appears in all the canonical gospels. Its probably most frequently associated with the apocalyptic imagery of the Book of Revelation to John, but its most clearly laid out in the Book of Matthew, in which it is prophesied that the Son of Man will send out his angels with a trumpet call to gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other, before separating the righteous sheep from the accursed goats .
Pauls first epistle to the Thessalonians contains passages along the same lines:
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Professor Alan Hultberg On What The Bible Says About The End Times
Biola Magazine Staff April 22, 2012
Theres nothing like an apocalypse prediction to get the media buzzing. Last May, one of the more highly publicized predictions in recent memory came from radio host Harold Camping, who gained national notoriety by warning that Judgment Day would arrive on May 21. Meanwhile, other doomsday predictors have had their eyes on 2012 for several years now some say the Mayan calendar places the end of the world on Dec. 21. But amidst all the hype and pop culture hoopla, what does the Bible actually say about the end times?
Eschatology is a popular but notoriously difficult area of Christian theology. There are nearly as many theories on how to interpret the book of Revelation, for example, as there are books in the Left Behind series. One of the most contested elements of evangelical end times scholarship is the rapture specifically when it will take place in relation to other eschatological events like the tribulation and the return of Christ to earth.
Alan Hultberg, an associate professor at Talbot School of Theology, is one of Biolas resident experts on end times theology, and he recently edited the book, Three Views on the Rapture. Biola Magazine recently interviewed Hultberg about the rapture, its various interpretations, and why its important for Christians to take seriously.
What is the rapture, and what is the scriptural evidence for it?
You argue for the prewrath position. What are the main supporting arguments for this position?
Jesus Wept Over His Prediction Of Destruction
Jesus weeps over this city in another place, because its zealous impulses will lead to the destruction of Gods holy city and Temple. This isnt something Jesus wants to happen. It is, however, something he knows will happen.
And soon.
Jumping back into the passage, Jesus keeps moving. The great Son of Man statement comes in verse 26. This points to Daniel 7 where the son of man comes up to the throne of God to be victoriously vindicated to a position of authority after a time of suffering .
For Jesus, this will ultimately happen when the Temple is destroyed, for it will be a moment where Jesus becomes the only Temple of God that is left in the cosmos.
Again, we keep in mind that Jesus weeps over this point: he doesnt want the Temple to be destroyed. He simply sees the writing on the soon-to-be bloodstained and torn down walls.
Jesus is claiming to be the fulfillment of Daniels apocalyptic vision, and people will see this to be true once the Lords prophecy is fulfilled.
This happened in 70 CE. It already did. His coming in this passage is about his enthronement, the vindication of his suffering. It will serve as a sign to his hearers, beyond the resurrection, that he truly was the suffering one of God who overcomes his enemies by Gods loving verdict: not the sword.
Jesus seals the deal by following this up in verse 30 by saying: this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.
Jesus had nothing in mind like a Rapture.
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