Rapture! Really?

The word "rapture" is derived from the Latin term raptus which meant "to snatch or seize." Birds of prey are called raptors, since they snatch up their prey. A person is said to be rapt with attention when something has so seized her interest that she is caught up in it. And it's understood what Solomon meant when he spoke of a husband being enraptured with his wife's love (Prov. 5:19).

If we were reading 1 Thessalonians 4:17 in the Latin Vulgate (a fourth-century translation of the Bible), we would find a form of raptus appearing in Paul's discussion of how Christians will be "caught up" in the clouds at the Lord's return. It is this fact, apparently, that has given rise to the use of "rapture" among many Bible-believers. And applied in this limited, literal sense, "rapture" is certainly an accurate way to describe what will be experienced by Christians when the Lord returns. The term, however, is generally used in connection with much more.

In his 1998 book, Rapture: Under Attack, best-selling author and vocal proponent of the "pre-Tribulation" view of "the Rapture," Tim LaHaye, spells out point-by-point how he believes events will unfold in the final days of the world. In condensed form, his play-by-play runs as follows:¹

1. Jesus will descend from heaven, but His appearing will be witnessed by the righteous only.²
2. The dead in Christ will resurrect (with changed bodies).
3. Then those who are alive and remain will also be changed.
4. Both groups will be caught up (raptured) together to meet the Lord in the air.
5. The Lord will take the raptured to His Father's house.
6. While in the Father's house, the raptured will appear before the judgment seat of Christ (but with no threat of being condemned).
7. While the Lord and the raptured are in the Father's house, the Great Tribulation will take place on Earth (during which time those "left behind" - those not raptured - will have opportunity to turn to the Lord).
8. After a period of years has passed on Earth (seven, in LaHaye's view), the Lord will celebrate the Marriage Supper of the Lamb with the raptured, then descend with them to Earth to set up His earthly kingdom.
9. This earthly kingdom will persist for a thousand years ("the Millennium"), after which the wicked will be resurrected and judged.

So goes LaHaye's understanding of how "the Rapture" and surrounding events will transpire. And so goes the understanding of many sincere people of faith. But is this, in fact, what the Bible teaches? To some extent, yes. But on many points, no.

To begin with, note that this view of the "end times" teaches that the Lord's return will be a two-stage affair. Jesus will return once to gather the raptured and take them to His Father's house, then again to set up His kingdom on Earth.³ LaHaye attempts to support this dualistic view of Christ's return by appealing to Titus 2:13 where Paul states that Christians should be "looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ." He contends that "the blessed hope" and "glorious appearing" are distinct events, what amounts to two different comings of Christ. But is that the natural reading of the text? Would someone without preconceived ideas understand Paul's statement that way? Seems highly unlikely.

But we can let the plain passages of Scripture illuminate the more obscure.

Jesus repeatedly spoke of His return in His parables, and never as anything but a single event. The king comes once to see the guests (Mt. 22:11). The bridegroom comes once to the wedding (Mt. 25:6, 10). The lord comes once to settle accounts with his servants (Mt. 25:19). The nobleman returns once from a far country (Lk. 19:15). And in keeping with this pattern, Jesus spoke of "the coming of the Son of Man" (Mt. 24:27, 37, 29), and Paul of "the coming of our Lord" (1 Thess. 5:23; 2 Thess. 2:1). Always, it is in the singular. And note, also, how Jesus stated three times that He will resurrect His followers "at the last day" (Jn. 6:40, 44, 54). That leaves no future days for a subsequent return - or for that matter, a seven-year Tribulation or a thousand-year reign on Earth.

The Scriptures simply do not speak of a second, second coming - a third coming, in other words. "To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time..." (Heb. 9:28). The Bible speaks of Jesus coming again, not again and again.

And what about the nature of His second coming? LaHaye asserts that only the righteous will see Jesus at His second appearing. But what does the Scripture say? "Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him" (Rev. 1:7a). The soldiers who pierced Jesus' flesh with spear and nails, and those who moved political mountains to make it possible that day, will have been dead for over 19 centuries when Jesus returns. Yet they will see Him. And the clear implication is that they will not be among the righteous when they do. Righteous or unrighteous, dead or alive, everyone will see Jesus when He comes. And, it seems evident, everyone will hear Him. There is some disagreement among proponents of "the Rapture" over whether or not the lost will hear the Lord when He returns to gather His own. But the Scriptures leave little doubt. Every eye will see Him. Shall not every ear hear Him? "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God." (1 Thess. 4:16). This is a symphony of sound intended to be heard! When God descended upon Mount Sinai, "the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled" (Ex. 19:16). When the Lord descends from heaven, it will be no different.

Which brings us to the resurrection. According to LaHaye and others who espouse his view of "the Rapture," there will actually be two resurrections (at least⁴) - one of the righteous at Jesus' first appearing, then a second of the wicked at the close of "the Millennium." Two resurrections and two judgments, each for only one category of persons. But the Bible paints a very different picture. Jesus spoke of "the resurrection,"⁵ never the resurrections. He declared: "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth - those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation" (Jn. 5:28, 29). Jesus spoke of a single occasion ("the hour") in which all the dead will rise. And Paul echoed this: "I have hope in God...that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust" (Ac. 24:15). Commensurate with Jesus' single second coming, there will be a single resurrection of all the dead. And, accordingly, there will be a single judgment of all humanity: "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats." (Mt. 25:31, 32). The "sheep" and the "goats" - the righteous and the wicked - will all be judged on "the last day."⁶

Jesus is coming back. His return will be sudden, but it will not be secret. It will be visible to all, audible to all, and its accompanying judgment will be final for all. And that finality is why it's so important to be aware of the errors connected with doctrine of "the Rapture." By promising two returns, "the Rapture" promises people a second chance - another seven years, according to some, another three and a half, according to others - but a second chance all the same. A second chance to get right with God if the first chance was squandered. But the Bible makes no such promise. When Jesus returns, "all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him" (Rev. 1:7). Because they'll have a second chance? No. Because they will have wasted their only chance.

ENDNOTES

1. Rapture: Under Attack (LaHaye), p. 35-37, 80
2. Ibid., p. 35. Notice, however, that in 1 Cor. 15:51-52a, Paul does not say that Jesus' descent from heaven will occur "in the twinkling of an eye," but that the change from mortal to immortal bodies will take place in that space of time: "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."
3. A misunderstanding of the kingdom. For more information, see pamphlet, "Thy Kingdom Come." But When?
4. Some adherents of this doctrine teach that there will be a third resurrection involving the "Old Testament saints." It is believed to occur when Jesus returns to set up His earthly kingdom.
5. Mt. 22:30, 31; Lk. 14:14 (cf. Jn. 11:24; Ac. 17:18)
6. Martha expected her righteous brother, Lazarus, to rise on "the last day" (Jn. 11:24), and Jesus said the wicked would be judged on "the last day" (Jn. 12:48). More evidence that both the righteous and the wicked will be present at "the judgment."