The Rapture: Is anything missing?

In one chaotic moment, millions of people around the world suddenly disappear, leaving their clothes, wedding rings, eye glasses and shoes in crumpled piles. Mass confusion hits while vehicles suddenly unmanned veer out of control, fires erupt and hysteria breaks out as the living stare in disbelief and fear at the empty places where their loved ones were just seconds before. This is the rapture that God has planned as the first sign to begin the unraveling of the end of time.

These words are on the official Left Behind—The Movie internet site, promoting the movie from the best-selling ‘Left Behind’ series of novels and movies by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.

According to the ‘Left Behind’ series, the return of Jesus actually takes place in two distinct phases. First, Jesus comes silently and secretly, unnoticed by the world, to rapture away true believers (the ‘Rapture’). Millions of people all over the globe will suddenly vanish. The rest of mankind, having been left behind, are then ushered into a “seven-year period called the Tribulation” (according to the inside cover of The Tribulation Force, the second book in the ‘Left Behind’ series), during which the Antichrist arises to enforce his deadly mark. Then, at the end of the seven years, Jesus returns visibly before the eyes of all—the event referred to as Christ’s second coming or “glorious appearing” —at the very end of the world (the ‘Return’ or ‘Revelation’).

With minor variations this sequence is now accepted by millions of Bible-believing Christians as an accurate picture of the end-time events. It was first proposed by J. N. Darby, founder of the Plymouth Brethren, and was later popularized in the Scofield Reference Bible (1888) and The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey. It is part of a whole system of Bible interpretation called ‘dispensationalism’. But what is the truth about the rapture? Will millions of Christians one day vanish as taught in the ‘Left Behind’ books? Will Jesus remove his followers before the final period of tribulation? Will those who miss the rapture have a second chance to be saved?

These are important questions, demanding biblical answers. Without doubt, the most quoted passage in the Bible now being used to support the idea of a Rapture is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. The Apostle Paul certainly did write that believers in Christ will some day be “caught up together with [those Christians who have already died] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (“caught up” = raptured = arpazein). However the major issue of interpretation concerns the timing of our being “caught up” and the nature of the event itself.

This pre-tribulation conception rests upon several essential presuppositions:

1. a ‘literal interpretation’ of the Scriptures;
2. the church and Israel being “two distinct groups with whom God has a divine plan”;
3. the church being “a mystery, unrevealed in the Old Testament. This present mystery age intervenes within the program of God for Israel because of Israel’s rejection of the Messiah at His first advent”; and
4. the necessity of the mystery program’s completion “before God can resume His program with Israel and bring it to completion”.¹

The only way one could arrive at a secret pre-tribulation rapture is if these presuppositions are in place.

Despite claims to the contrary, the pretribulational rapture is not inductively developed from the biblical text. It is imposed upon the biblical data and it is based upon a selective use of the Scriptures. The literalistic hermeneutic of the dispensationalist determines the interpretive outcome in advance. If the fundamental assumptions are false, it is highly likely that any conclusions reached based upon them are also false.

The literalistic interpretation of the Scriptures associated with Darby/Scofield dispensationalism is highly problematic. The dawn of the messianic age and the kingdom of God does not constitute a massive interruption (over 2000 years) in redemptive history until such a time when God is ready to deal with national Israel and finish his original plan of redemption. It was clearly prophesied in the Old Testament that God’s redemptive purposes included Gentiles (Gen 12:3; 22:18; Isa 49:6). Therefore, the church is not a ‘mystery’ during this age; instead the church is the fulfillment of God’s eternal purposes. Since the formation of Christ’s church and the salvation of the Gentiles is part of God’s eternal plan (cf. Eph 1:9-11), these four presuppositions are unfounded.

Let us now take a closer look at what the Bible has to say about the coming of the Lord.

The coming of the Lord

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thess 4:13-18)

The noisiest verse in the Bible

In verse 16 Paul describes Jesus Christ’s return to earth. It is very difficult to find a secret or silent coming of Christ in this verse; three times in the passage Paul uses various terminology to convey the idea that Jesus’ return will be accompanied by divine announcements clearly universal in nature: “a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God”. Someone once called this the noisiest verse in the Bible. Clearly, God himself will proclaim the return of Jesus Christ so loudly that the whole world will hear. Not only so, but the world will also witness the subsequent catching away of believers (v. 17).

A word from the Lord

This teaching of Paul comes “by a word from the Lord” (v. 15). The most obvious reference to the Lord’s teaching on his second coming is found in Matthew 24 where the similarities between the key expressions, concepts and structure with 1 and 2 Thessalonians are quite striking:

Christ’s coming, then, is synchronized with the resurrection and the gathering up of the saints (all God’s people: not only the Jews). It is the same gathering, the same trumpet call, the same resurrection and the same coming.

A word on words

If it is argued that the Scriptures clearly teach a two stage coming (i.e. Phase 1: coming for his saints = the Rapture; Phase 2: coming with his saints = the Return or Revelation), surely this will be demonstrated by different words being used to describe them. There are in fact three main words used to describe this glorious event:

• apokalypsis = revelation
• epiphaneia = appearing
• parousia = coming or presence

The way these terms are used excludes a dispensational understanding of the rapture and the four presuppositions of pre-tribulationalists:

• Apokalypsis, which literally means ‘an unveiling’, refers to the removal of those things which presently obstruct our vision of Christ. The term appears in 1 Corinthians 1:7 where Paul longs for Christ to be revealed; in 2 Thessalonians 1:7 when Paul speaks of Jesus being revealed on the day of judgement; and then several times in 1 Peter where Peter connects Christ’s second coming to the final judgement (1:7), to blessing (1:13) and to when Christ’s glory is finally manifested (4:13).
• Epiphaneia means ‘appearance’ or ‘manifestation’. It is used in reference to Christ’s coming forth out of a hidden background with the rich blessings of salvation—when “our Lord Jesus Christ” appears (1 Tim 6:14, and until then we are to “keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach”); when our Lord destroys the lawless one (2 Thess 2:8); when Christ comes back in judgement (2 Tim 4:1, 8); and when Jesus appears as our glorious “God and Saviour” (Titus 2:13).
• Parousia literally means ‘presence’ and points to the coming of Christ that either precedes the presence or results in the presence. In the Olivet Discourse, the term is used several times to refer to our Lord’s return or coming (Matt 24:3, 27, 37). Paul used the term to designate Christ’s return, which will consummate the resurrection of which he was the “firstfruits” (1 Cor 15:23); to our Lord’s presence when he comes (1 Thess 2:19); to “the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” when he will “establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father”; to the “coming of the Lord” (4:15); to the judgement (5:23); and to the second coming (repeatedly throughout 2 Thess 2:1-9). For James the parousia is an object of hope (Jas 5:7-8). Peter uses the term in reference to Christ’s transfiguration (2 Pet 1:16); the “promise of his coming” which the scoffers mock (3:4); and the final judgement and the cosmic renewal (3:12).

From this brief survey, it ought to be apparent that these terms raise a number of difficulties for dispensationalists. All three words are used interchangeably of both the rapture and the second coming. This means that the biblical writers did not distinguish between two phases of Christ’s return as dispensationalists do. In one place, Paul used the term parousia to describe what pretribulationists assume to be the rapture (1 Thess 4:15); in another, he used the same word to describe “the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” (3:13)—i.e. the bodily return of our Lord to earth, supposedly seven years after the rapture. In still another place, Paul used parousia to refer to “the coming at which Christ shall bring the antichrist to nought—which is not supposed to happen, according to pretribulationists, until the second phase” (2 Thess 2:8).² Similarly, in one place, Paul uses apokalypsis to describe “what these interpreters call the rapture: ‘as you wait for the revealing … of our Lord Jesus Christ’” (1 Cor 1:7). In another, apokalypsis is used “to describe what pretribulationists call the second phase of the Second Coming: ‘… at the revelation (apokalypsis) of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire’” (2 Thess 1:7-8 ).³ This is also the case with epiphaneia: in one place, Paul uses the term in regard to what dispensationalists assume to be the rapture (“I charge you … to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing (epiphaneia) of our Lord Jesus Christ” [1 Tim 6:13-14]); while in 2 Thessalonians 2:8, the apostle “uses the same word to describe the coming of Christ at which he will overthrow the man of lawlessness: ‘And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall … bring to nought by the manifestation (epiphaneia) of his coming’”.⁴ The problem is that this event is not supposed to happen until after the seventieth week of Daniel (the so-called ‘great tribulation’) comes to an end.

This means that there is “no basis whatever for the kind of distinction pretribulationists make between two phases of Christ’s return”.⁵ The dispensational theory of the secret rapture cannot be justified from the Scriptures. The Bible teaches that though there are different aspects involved, they are all part of one event: the blessed hope, when Jesus Christ will come again on the last day to judge the world, raise the dead and make all things new.

I can’t see him coming, can you?

Is it anywhere taught that the Lord Jesus will come silently and invisibly to catch up or ‘rapture’ his bride, the church? Firstly our Lord himself taught that his coming as the Son of Man with the clouds of heaven would be highly visible:

So, if they say to you, “Look, he is in the wilderness”, do not go out. If they say, “Look, he is in the inner rooms”, do not believe it. For as the lighting comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. (Matt 24:26-27)

The Lord Jesus makes it clear that the mark of false prophets is if they claim that his coming is unobservable and secret rather than highly visible and public. Furthermore, the coming of the Lord Jesus when believers will be caught up will be unmistakably visible to “all the tribes of the earth”:

Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matt 24:30-31)

No-one will miss it and no-one will wake up the next morning wondering where all the Christians have gone. On that great day, all the unsaved will “mourn”. Why? Not because their loved ones have vanished into thin air but because Jesus Christ has suddenly come and they were not prepared—they were caught unforgiven.

In addition, nowhere in 1 Thessalonians 4 is there any suggestion that Christians will ‘suddenly disappear without a trace’ as the ‘Left Behind’ series teaches. At the end of his earthly life, the Lord Jesus was “lifted up” (Acts 1:9) but that doesn’t mean he disappeared. In fact, we are told the disciples saw him ascending. It was only when a cloud hid him from their sight that they no longer could see him. It is important to remember the words of the messengers who spoke to the disciples that day: “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). “The same way” surely means visibly and with the clouds.

But it is important to continue reading beyond 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 to appreciate the full significance of Christ’s coming:

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “there is peace and security”, then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. (1 Thess 5:1-5)

Jesus coming as a “thief in the night” does not mean that he will come quietly and invisibly to steal believers out of this world, as is taught in the ‘Left Behind’ books. Rather, it means he will come unexpectedly, bringing sudden destruction upon the unsaved. Thus it is not a silent coming that is being emphasized but a surprising and sudden one. The Apostle Peter also agrees with Paul:

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. (2 Pet 3:10)

What about the unprepared being given a second chance to be saved? Paul clearly answered this question when he wrote, “they will not escape” (v. 3).

Answering the pretribulationists

To make his case for a pretribulational rapture, Pentecost lists some seventeen distinctions between the rapture and the second advent which, he says, serve as the basis for contending that there are two future comings of Jesus Christ.⁶ Pentecost argues that, because a distinction is made between those texts discussing the return of Christ to the earth and those texts discussing a physical manifestation of Jesus Christ with believers being raptured away, they must be two mutually exclusive events separated by a seven-year tribulation. His conclusion is highly suspect, his methodology prevents the interpreter from looking at all the data with any semblance of objectivity, and the importance of those texts which teach that these are different aspects of the same event are downplayed. Kim Riddlebarger, in A Case for Amillennialism, writes,

Therefore, when the Bible speaks of Christ’s second coming as one event with several elements (the catching up of believers and the bodily return of Christ), dispensationalists interpret these verses in light of a previous assumption where a distinction between the rapture and the second coming is made. They base this on the presupposition that the Gentile church must be removed at the start of the tribulation period. But this distinction between different aspects of the second coming in no way forces us to the conclusion that these must be two distinct events separated by the seven-year tribulation. In fact, if we look at the biblical data without dispensational presuppositions, we would never conclude that the coming of Christ consists of two separate events seven years apart, with one of them being secret.⁷

Conclusion

There is no sound scriptural basis for dividing the second coming of the Lord Jesus into two phases—certainly not on the basis of the vocabulary used. There is an inseparable union between the coming (parousia) and the catching up (rapture). The plainest interpretation of these New Testament Scriptures is:

the coming = the revelation = the appearing = the day of our Lord Jesus Christ = the gathering of the saints = the punishment of the wicked

The rapture—when the church is caught up—takes place at the visible second coming of Jesus Christ at the end of the world. On that day, those who continue unrepentant in unbelief will not be ready and will not have a second chance to be saved.

Endnotes

¹ J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1964, p. 193.

² A. Hoekema, The Bible and the Future, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1994, p. 166.

³ Hoekema, p. 166.

⁴ Ibid.

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ Pentecost, pp. 206-207.

⁷ Kim Riddlebarger, A Case for Amillennialism, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, 2003, p. 141.