The Rapture Theory

 The Rapture Theory 

Brianna 

John 17:15 "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but thou shouldest keep them from evil." 

There is teaching today that is rife within the Christian world. The rapture theory. What is the rapture theory? Those who hold onto this believe that the "church" will be raptured away to heaven and then the earth will continue for a period of seven years. (Called the tribulation) in which the inhabitants of the earth are plunged into a time of great trouble and strife. (More so than now) So what this is saying is there is a separation to take place between the saved and the lost BEFORE the end of the world. In this teaching we are also told that Christ will return in two "phases." The first will be a "quiet" affair with the saints raptured away. And then the second phase after the seven year tribulation will be the "glorious, triumphant" return, which according to this teaching, will usher in the 1000 year milennial reign on earth. (Which is also a false teaching) Let me show you an example of the weakness in the rapture doctrine, there is an article stating it has '10 Irrefutable Proofs' for the rapture. Heres the first 2 'irrefutable proofs' they quoted: 

Number 1. "The Rapture is the 'blessed hope' while the second coming is a day to be greatly feared." They separate the rapture and the second coming, saying the rapture is the 'blessed hope', quoting Titus 2:12. "And the second coming is the 'FEARED day of the Lord'." Quoting Amos 5:18. They believe these must be different events, because one is to be hoped for, and the other is to be feared. But they fail to realize the simple truth that the second coming is the 'blessed hope' for the saved in Jesus, and to be 'greatly feared' by those who reject the Lord. Simple, logical, truth. 

Number 2. "In the Rapture Jesus comes for his church, at his second coming he brings the church with him." They say that Jesus takes his church away in the rapture, quoting 1 Thess. 4:16-17. Then Jesus comes back with the church at the second coming, quoting Revealation 19:14, which says 'the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses." But what they fail to realize is that the 'armies' whom Jesus returns with are His angels, as Matthew 25:31 confirms, not the church. 

But what about 1 Thessalonians 4:14, where it says that those who sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. This is surely talking about the church coming back from heaven after the rapture with Jesus at His physical return? No, its not. Rapture adherents love this verse. But they simply miss the context of it. Look at both verses 13 and 14. Paul is clearly talking about those who are asleep in Christ, ie, those who are in their graves waiting for His return. And what does Paul say to give encouragement concerning those who have died? He says just as God raises Jesus from the dead, so He will bring with Jesus those who sleep in Him. In other words those who have died, God will raise them from the dead, just like He rose Jesus from the dead. The rest of the so called 'irrefutable proofs' are of the same mold. They are not proofs at all, but just twisting of scripture to suit their wrong belief. Its interesting they also believe the 'antichrist' will not be revealed until AFTER the rapture. This is a deception of the Roman Church. The Bible and historic Protestantism already revealed the antichrist. The Papal Church of Rome. NOTE: If rapture theory is a true teaching why was it not known until the early 20th century? 

BIBLE PROOF THE RAPTURE THEORY IS FALSE

John 17:15 "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but thou shouldest keep them from evil." Let me get one thing clear first. The word "rapture" is not found anywhere in the Bible. So where did they get the word from? It was coined from the words 'caught up' found in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. And we will deal with those verses later on. I would like to drop a Biblical bomb right away on the pre tribulation rapture teaching and expose it's weakness. That Bible bomb is found in Matthew chapter 13. In this chapter Christ is telling a parable and teaching a lesson concerning the events concerning the last days and the second coming. Here's what he said: Matthew 13:24-30 "Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while the man slept his enemy came and sowed tares umong the wheat and went his way. But when the blade sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, an enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together FIRST the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: But gather the wheat into my barn." I love the word of God! It's so clear we need not second guess what's gonna happen. So what are we told in the pre tribulation rapture theory? We are told that Christ will gather His people 'BEFORE' the harvest. And yet what does it clearly stare above in the Bible verse? That separation only takes place AT the harvest. 

"Oh but the rapture IS the harvest." Okay. So according to those who hold to the pre tribulation theory the harvest takes place BEFORE the tribulation and BEFORE the end of the world. According to this teaching the world goes on for another 7 years and then another 1000 years AFTER the rapture. Well, what does Jesus Christ our Teacher say about this? Matthew 13:38-40 "The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; But the tares are the children of the wicked one; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of the world." Thank you Jesus for giving us clear insight on this matter so that we are not decevied! The church and the wicked continue to live together on earth until THE END OF THE WORLD. And it is ONLY at the end of the world that separation takes place. This also proves the mid tribulation teaching to be false. Those who hold to the mid tribulation rapture theory also believe that separation takes place BEFORE the end of the world. But as we have shown from the Bible above, separation ONLY takes place at the end of the world. If you look at these Bible verses you'll see the focus is NOT about the church being taken away before the end, but rather AT the end of the world and the LAST DAY. 

John 6:40 "And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which see the the Son, and believe that on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day." 

John 11:24 "Martha said unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." 

John 12:48 "He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him; the word I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." 

Notice also what Jesus says in Matthew 28:20 "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Now why would Jesus reassure us that He would be with us until the END OF THE WORLD, if we were to be raptured BEFORE the end of the world? That just doesn't make any sense. The rapture teaching is a false one invented by Satan to cause God's people to be unprepared for the trouble ahead that we WILL go through. 

WHO IS JESUS COMING 'AS A THIEF' FOR? 

There are many Christians who hold onto those words "coming as a thief" separating them from the context and believing that Jesus is coming as a thief for the church. But look what the apostle Paul said regarding Jesus coming as a thief. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5 "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. By ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are children of the light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night or darkness." These things become so clear when we read the context rather than separating small pieces of scripture and building a faulty teaching off it. Do you see what Paul is saying? WHO is Jesus coming as a thief for? THE WORLD! For whom does Jesus 'come suddenly' without them being aware? THE LOST! Which ties perfectly with the parable about the wheat and tares. Wherein the LOST are gathered FIRST. Paul confirms above in 1 Thessalonians 5 that the saints are NOT overtaken 'as a thief,' because we will be watching and waiting for the Lord, expecting His return. Matthew 24:42-43 "Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the Goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up." Can you know what "watch" the Lord is coming in? YES! This is why we we read given signs of the times in the Bible so we can know in which 'watch' the Lord will rerurn. We do not know the hour but, we can know in what 'watch' which is why the 'Goodman of the house' (the saints) ARE WATCHING AND WAITING! John 10:10 "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." What does a thief come to do? To steal and destroy! Is Jesus coming to steal and destroy his church? No! He is coming back to steal and destroy the wicked. Jesus is coming back as a thief for the lost. But the church will be watching. And will NOT suffer their house to be broken up. Jesus is NOT coming back as a thief for the church. He is coming back as a thief for the world! 

WHAT HAPPENS AT THE END OF THE WORLD

For Jesus to say "end of the world" There must be some destructive event to take place right? So what event would be an "end of the world" event? THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST! Look at the following Bible verses describing the second coming. Revelation 1:7 "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindred of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, amen." 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8 "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." Psalm 50:3-4 "Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people." Isaiah 34:8-10 "For it is the day of the LORDS vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstome, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day: the smoke thereof shall go up for ever and ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. Sounds like an end of the world event doesn't it? The destroying force of the second coming of Christ will cause the earth to be "laid waste" as mentioned above. Which means the world will NOT continue on as we know it now which the rapture theory proclaims. Instead the wicked will be destroyed and the earth laid waste. And it is AT THIS TIME that the saints are taken to heaven, not before. 

WHAT ABOUT 'ONE TAKEN ONE LEFT BEHIND?' 

This is a very misunderstood passage. Take a look at the context of the verses. Do you see that Jesus second coming will be like what happened in the days of Noah? And what happened in the days of Noah? The flood DESTROYED the earth, taking away the wicked and leaving behind God's people (Noahs family) So the wicked were TAKEN and Noah was LEFT BEHIND. And this is what Christ is pointing us to. He is saying that the day is coming when the earth will be destroyed again and the wicked will be TAKEN and the saints will be LEFT BEHIND. Take note of the following VITAL point. 

Luke 17:35-37 "Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. And they answered and said unto him, Where Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the Eagles be gathered today." Why did the disciples ask "Where Lord?" Were they wondering where the one left behind was? No, that person would be in the same place as they were. They are clearly asking about the one that was taken. And what did Jesus say? "Wheresoever the body is, thither will the Eagles be gathered today." The body? In the original language eagle can also mean vulture. And where do vultures gather? Where there is a dead body! And what did Job say about the eagle? Job 39:27-30 "Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place. From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off. Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there she is." And in Matthew 24 Jesus makes it even clearer by saying it is a CARCASS! So the one taken is the wicked who will be killed. The whole context of Matthew 24 is a warning for us to "watch and be ready" So that the "sudden destruction" that will come upon the world doesn't take us by suprise. Just like in Noahs day. Who were taken? The wicked. Who were left behind? Noah and his family! 

CAUGHT UP IN THE AIR TO MEET THE LORD 

So what does it mean when the Bible says we will be 'caught up' to meet the Lord? Exactly what it says! Those who hold onto the rapture theory try to get something out of this that just isn't there. The truth is when Jesus Christ returns at the second coming, the wicked will be destroyed, the dead saints will be resurrected and the saints who are still alive will be 'caught up' to meet Jesus in the air. And then we will be taken to heaven to start the 1000 year millennium. And why do we meet Jesus in the air? Because Jesus is NOT going to set foot upon earth during his second coming. And the second phase of His return with the saints will be at the END of the 1000 year millennium. There is another misunderstanding that the rapture theory causes. Jesus is not going to rule on earth during the 1000 years. Instead, we are going to be in heaven with Him during this time, and earth will be "laid waste" from His second comimg. And only AFTER the 1000 years will we return to earth with Christ. 

The rapture theory is a false teaching, and a dangerous one at that. The Bible proves this isn't true. But please know that if people do suddenly "disappear" Satan and his fallen angels were behind it!