Topic(s): Denominationalism, Eternity & Judgment

Bob Prichard

“Rapture” is a non-biblical word used to describe an idea with several components. It includes the idea that in the end times the Lord will return secretly. When he makes his appearance, the righteous will disappear suddenly to be caught up in the air to meet Him. This period of rapture, sometimes called the “translation of the saints,” supposedly comes before a seven year period of “great tribulation,” after which Jesus comes again to fight the battle of Armageddon. After this Jesus is supposed to establish a thousand year earthly kingdom, from which He will judge the world. The scriptures do teach that Jesus will come again, but do not teach the idea of the rapture.

The rapture doctrine says Jesus will return secretly, but John said that when He returns, “every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him” (Revelation 1:7). Paul said: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). The Lord’s return will be a world-wide event witnessed by all.

The rapture doctrine also calls for those who have been “raptured” to go to heaven for the seven year tribulation period, and then return to the earth for the thousand year reign, but Paul says that Christians will meet the Lord in the air and then “ever be with the Lord.” Why would Christians want to leave heaven to return to earth?

The rapture doctrine calls for the Lord to return to establish a literal earthly kingdom that will endure a thousand years. The kingdom of Christ is not a future reality, however, but a present one, because Christ has already established His kingdom. He promised some of His listeners, “Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power” (Mark 9:1). God fulfilled the promise on Pentecost, when the apostles “were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). As they preached the gospel, three thousand obeyed the Lord in baptism and were added to His kingdom, the church (Acts 2:38-47).

The rapture theory mistakenly calls for the Lord to make several “second comings.” He supposedly comes at the rapture, again after the tribulation, again for the kingdom, and again for the judgment. The Bible speaks of only one second coming, however, at which time the Lord will receive His bride, the church; He will judge all men; and will destroy the world. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10). When Jesus comes again, as He will, it will be the end of the world, the day of judgment, and the beginning of eternity.