Rapture of the Church

The Rapture of the Church is crucial in the End Times. The word rapture comes from the Latin word rapere which means “to seize.” Rapture in the Bible refers to the moment when Jesus Christ returns in the clouds and all the Christians who have ever died are raised to everlasting life and snatched away to meet him; then believers who are still alive are “caught up together with them in the clouds,” instantly changed into immortals. Jesus referred to the Rapture as the time when his angels “gather together” believers (Mat. 24:31), and Paul called it “our gathering together to him [Christ]” (2 Thes. 2:1).

Christians have several ideas about when the Rapture happens and how it fits into the timeline of apocalyptic events, but the two main teachings are: (1.) Pre-Tribulation Rapture and (2.) Post-Tribulation Rapture. Despite their differences, both positions agree that the following verses describe Christ’s rapture of Christians:

“The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thes. 4:16–17).

Both positions also agree that the following describes what happens at the Rapture:

“We shall not all sleep [die], but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Cor. 15:51–52).

Pre-Tribulation Rapture

Pre-Tribulation Rapture doctrine states that the Rapture is a secret event that occurs before the Last Seven Years of world history begin. In this scenario, Christians are removed from the earth before the rise of the Antichrist and before the Tribulation, so they are no longer around when the Antichrist persecutes those left behind, who have become Christians during the Tribulation. This doctrine is called Pre-Tribulation Rapture. Those who believe this stress that Jesus promised to return “as a thief” to steal Christians away (Rev. 16:15), and that he also said that we would not know the “day nor the hour” he will return (Mat. 25:13)—so he could literally return at any moment now.

They believe that when God called the apostle John up to heaven to see the visions of the book of Revelation, that—although it is not stated—all Christians on earth were called up to heaven with John in the Rapture. (See Rev. 4:1.)

They also believe that when Jesus describes himself returning after the Tribulation (Mat. 24:29–31), that this is when the already-resurrected Christians “clothed in white linen” return with him, following Jesus Christ into the Battle of Armageddon to slay the wicked followers of the Antichrist. (See Rev. 19:11–16; 2 Thes. 2:8.)

Post-Tribulation Rapture

Christians who believe in Post-Tribulation Rapture point out that Jesus says nothing in Mat. 24:29–31 about fighting the Battle of Armageddon, but speaks instead of the Rapture (the “gathering together”), stating that this event happens after the Tribulation:

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days … shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Mat. 24:29–31).

They also say that the armies clothed “in white linen” who follow Jesus Christ into the Battle of Armageddon—2 ½ months after the Rapture—are angels, not resurrected believers. After all, 2 Thes. 1:7–8 says, “The Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In addition, 1 Cor. 15:51–52 says that “we shall all be changed … at the last trumpet,” and Christians who expect to go through the Tribulation point out that seven angels blow seven trumpets during the Tribulation, and the seventh trumpet (the “last trumpet”) sounds at the end of the Tribulation. (See Rev. 8:2; 10:7; 11:15.)

There are wonderful Christians on both sides of this discussion, but of course, only one side can be right. We know for certain that the Rapture and resurrection will happen. The only question is when.