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The Rapture of the Church

What is it and when will it take place?

by Dr. David R. Reagan

The Rapture is a glorious event which God has pro­mised to the Church. The promise is that someday very soon, at the blow­ing of a trumpet and the shout of an ar­chan­gel, Jesus will ap­pear in the sky and take up His Church, living and dead, to Heaven.

The Term

The term, Rapture, comes from a Latin word that means to catch up, to snatch away, or to take out. It is a Biblical word that comes right out of the Latin Vul­gate translation of the Bible. The word is found in 1 Thes­salonians 4:17. In the New Ameri­can Standard Ver­sion, the English phrase, “caught up,” is used. The same phrase is used in the King James and New International Versions.

A Promise to the Church

The concept of the Rapture was not revealed to the Old Testament prophets because it is a promise to the New Testament Church and not to the saints of God who lived before the estab­lishment of the Church.

The saints of Old Testament times will be res­urrected at the end of the Trib­ulation and not at the time of the Rap­ture of the Church. Daniel reveals this fact in Daniel 12:1-2 where he says that the saints of that age will be resurrect­ed at the end of the “time of distress.”

Biblical References

The first clear mention of the Rapture in Scripture is found in the words of Jesus recorded in John 14:1-4. Jesus said, “I will come again, and re­ceive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

The most detailed revelation of the actual events relat­ed to the Rapture is given by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. He says that when Jesus appears, the dead in Christ (Church age saints) will be resurrected and caught up first. Then, those of us who are alive in Christ will be translat­ed “to meet the Lord in the air.” Paul then exhorts us to “co­m­fort one another with these words.”

Paul mentions the Rapture again in 1 Corinthi­ans 15 - his famous chapter on the resurrection of the dead:

“Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed, in a mo­ment, in the twink­ling of an eye, at the last trumpet.” (verses 51 and 52)

Paul’s reference here to being changed is an allusion to the fact that the saints will receive glorified bodies that will be perfected, imperish­able and immortal (1 Cor. 15:42-44, and 50-55).

The Timing

The most controversial aspect of the Rapture is its tim­ing. Some place it at the end of the Tribula­tion, making it one and the same event as the Second Coming. Others place it in the middle of the Tribulation. Still others believe that it will occur at the beginning of the Tribulation.

The reason for these differing viewpoints is that the ex­act time of the Rapture is not precisely revealed in scrip­ture. It is only inferred. There is, therefore, room for honest differ­ences of opinion, and lines of fellowship should cer­tainly not be drawn over differences regarding this point, even though it is an important point.

Post-Tribulation Rapture

Those who place the timing at the end of the Tribula­tion usually base their argument on two para­bles in Mat­thew 13 and on the Lord’s Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24.

In Matthew 24 the Lord portrays His gath­ering of the saints as an event that will take place “im­mediately after the tribulation of those days” (Matt. 24:29). This certainly sounds like a post-Tribulation Rapture. But it must be kept in mind that the book of Mat­thew was written to the Jews, and therefore the recording of Jesus’ speech by Mat­thew has a distinctively Jewish flavor to it as compared to Luke’s record of the same speech.

Note, for example, Matthew’s references to Judea and to Jewish law regar­d­ing travel on the Sabbath (Matt. 24:15-20). These are omit­ted in Luke’s ac­count. In­stead, Luke speaks of the saints looking up for deliver­ance “to escape all these things” when the end time signs “be­gin to take place” (Luke 21:28 and 36). The saints in Mat­thew are instruct­ed to flee from Judea and hide. The saints in Luke are told to look up for deliver­ance.

It appears, therefore, that Matthew and Luke are speak­ing of two different sets of saints. The saints in Matthew’s account are most likely Jews who receive Je­sus as their Messiah during the Tribula­tion. The saints in Luke are those who receive Christ be­fore the Trib­u­lation begins. Most of those who accept the Lord during the Tribula­tion will be martyred (Rev. 7:9-14). Those who live to the end will be gathered by the angels of the Lord (Matt. 24:31).

The parable of the wheat and tares (Matt. 13:24-30) and the parable of the dragnet (Matt. 13:47-50) can be ex­plained in the same way. They refer to a separation of saints and sinners that will take place at the end of the Tribulation. The saints are those who receive Jesus as their Savior during the Tribulation (Gentile and Jew) and who live to the end of that awful period.

Mid-Tribulation Rapture

There are variations of the mid-Tribulation Rapture con­cept. The most common is that the Church will be taken out in the exact middle of the Tribulation, at the point in time when the Antichrist is revealed.

This concept is based upon a statement in 1 Corin­th­ians 15:52 which says that the Rapture will occur at the blowing of “the last trumpet.” This trumpet is then identified with the seventh trumpet of the trumpet judgments in the book of Revelation. Since the blowing of the seventh trum­pet is recorded in Revelation 11, the mid-point of the Trib­ulation, the conclusion is that the Rapture must occur in the middle of the Tribulation.

But there are two problems with this interpretation. The first is that the last trumpet of 1 Corinthians 15 is blown for believers whereas the seven trumpets of Rev­elation 8, 9 and 11 are sounded for unbeliev­ers. The Revelation trumpets have no rele­vance for the Church. The last trumpet of 1 Corinthians 15 is a trumpet for the righ­teous. The last trum­pet for the unrighteous is the one described in Revela­tion 11.

Another problem with this interpretation is that the pas­sage in Revelation 11 that por­trays the sound­ing of the seventh trum­pet is a “flash forward” to the end of the Trib­ulation. Flash forwards are very common in the book of Revelation. They occur after some­thing terrible is de­scribed in order to as­sure the reader that everything is going to turn out all right when Jesus returns at the end of the Tribula­tion.

Thus, the eighth and ninth chapters of Reve­lation, which describe the horrors of the trum­pet judgments, are followed immediately by a flash forward in chap­ter 10 that pictures the return of Jesus in victo­ry at the end of the Tribulation. The mid-Tribulation action re­sumes in chapter 11 with a description of the killing of the two great pro­phets of God by the Antichrist. Then, to off­set that terrible event, we are presented with another flash forward, begin­ning with verse 15. The seventh trum­pet is sounded and we find our­selves pro­pelled forward to the end of the Trib­ulation when “the kingdom of the world be­comes the king­dom of our Lord.”

The point is that the seventh trumpet of Revelation re­lates to the end of the Tribulation and not the middle. It is therefore no basis for an argument in behalf of a mid-Trib­ulation Rapture.

Pre-Wrath Rapture

The cornerstone of this concept is that the terrifying events during the first half of the Tribulation are due to the wrath of Man and Satan, and not to God. Since the Church is only promised protection from the wrath of God, the Rapture will not occur until near the end of the Tribulation when God will pour out His wrath on the world.

This concept raises a serious theological problem because it questions the sovereignty of God. It assumes that Man and Satan can act apart from God’s will, when the fact of the matter is that neither can do anything God is not willing to permit. The Bible often portrays God carrying out His will through evil persons or nations. One of the classic examples is when He allowed the evil nation of Babylon to discipline Israel by destroying Jerusalem and the Temple and by carrying the surviving Jews away into captivity. It was an action that prompted the prophet Habakkuk to ask why God would punish those who are evil with those who are more evil (Habakkuk 1:13).

Any carnage wrought by Man or Satan during the Tribulation will still constitute the wrath of God. They will simply be His instruments. The Bible says God sits in the heavens and laughs over the plots and deeds of evil men, not because He does not care, but because He has everything under control (Psalm 2:1-6). The point is that He has the wisdom and power to orchestrate all evil to the triumph of His will in history. That’s why the psalmist wrote that “the wrath of man shall praise You [God]” (Psalm 76:10).

I think it is also important to note that when God pours out His wrath, He does not always do so directly. One of His most common ways is to simply back away from the nation or person and lower the hedge of protection around them. This is clearly spelled out in Romans 1:18-32. That passage says that when people rebel against God to the point that they begin to worship the creation rather than the Creator, God “gives them over” to the evil in their hearts. In other words, He just steps back and lets evil multiply. The passage further states that if they still refuse to repent, He steps back again and “gives them over to degrading passions.” And if they persist in their rebellion and sin, He finally “gives them over to a depraved mind” at which point the society destroys itself. Such destruction could be viewed as the wrath of Man, but it is really the wrath of God working through Man.

There is another serious problem with the pre-wrath Rapture concept. It relates to the fact that all the wrath of Revelation is specifically portrayed as the wrath of God. Where do the seal judgments originate? The answer is from the throne of God as Jesus opens each seal of the scroll that was in the Father’s right hand (Revelation 6:1). And where do the trumpet judgments originate? The same place — from the throne of God (Revelation 8:2). When we arrive at the bowl judgments in Revelation 15:1, we are told that with them, “the wrath of God is finished.”

Another problem with the pre-wrath concept is that it does violence to the chronological order of Revelation. The seal judgments are viewed as the wrath of Man and Satan, occurring during the first half of the Tribulation. The trumpet and bowl judgments are considered to be the wrath of God. They are lumped together at the end of the Tribulation. There is no justification for putting the trumpet judgments at the end of the Tribulation. They are clearly placed in the first half of the Tribulation in the chronological layout of the book of Revelation.

One final problem with the pre-wrath concept of the Rapture is that it disputes the fact that there is no purpose for the Church being in the Tribulation. The Tribulation is the 70th week of Daniel, a time devoted to God accomplishing His purposes among the Jewish people, not the Church.

The Pre-Tribulation Rapture

I believe the best inference of Scripture is that the Rap­ture will occur at the beginning of the Tribulation. The most important reason I believe this has to do with the issue of imminence. Over and over in Scripture we are told to watch for the appearing of the Lord. We are told “to be ready” (Matt. 24:44), “to be on the alert” (Matt. 24:42), “to be dressed in readiness” (Luke 12:35), and to “keep your lamps alight” (Luke 12:35). The clear force of these persis­tent warnings is that Jesus can appear at any moment.

Only the pre-Tribulation concept of the Rapture allows for the imminence of the Lord’s appearing for His Church. When the Rapture is placed at any other point in time, the imminence of the Lord’s appearing is destroyed because other prophetic events must happen first.

For example, if the Rapture is going to occur in mid-Trib­ulation, then why should I live looking for the Lord’s appear­ing at any moment? I would be looking instead for an Israe­li peace treaty, the rebuilding of the Temple, and the revela­tion of the Antichrist. Then and only then could the Lord appear.

Focus

This raises the issue of what we are to be looking for. Nowhere are believers told to watch for the appearance of the Antichrist. On the contrary, we are told to watch for Jesus Christ. In Titus 2:13 Paul says we are to live “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.” Likewise, Peter urges us to “fix our hope completely on the grace to be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13). John completes the apostolic chorus by similarly urging us to “fix our hope on Him” at His appearing (1 John 3:2-3).

Only Matthew speaks of watching for the Antichrist (Matt. 24:15), but he is speaking to the Jews living in Israel in the middle of the Tribulation when the Antichrist dese­crates the rebuilt Temple.

Wrath

Another argument in behalf of a pre-Tribulation Rapture has to do with the promises of God to protect the Church from His wrath. As has already been demonstrated, the book of Revelation shows that the wrath of God will be poured out during the entire period of the Tribulation.

The Word promises over and over that the Church will be delivered from God’s wrath. Romans 5:9 says that “we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him [Je­sus].” 1 Thessalonians 1:10 states that we are waiting “for His Son from heaven . . . who will deliver us from the wrath to come.” The promise is repeated in 1 Thes­salon­ians 5:9 - “God has not destined us for wrath, but for ob­taining salva­tion through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Deliverance

Some argue that God could supernaturally protect the Church during the Tribulation. Yes, He could. In fact, He promises to do just that for the 144,000 Jews who will be sealed as bond-servants at the beginning of the Tribulation (Rev. 7:1-8).

But God’s promise to the Church during the Tribulation is not one of protection but one of deliverance. Jesus said we would “escape” the horrors of the Tribulation (Luke 21:3­6). Paul says Jesus is coming to “deliver” us from God’s wrath (1 Thess. 1:10).

Symbolism

There are several prophetic types that seem to affirm the concept of deliverance from Tribulation. Take Enoch for example. He was a prophet to the Gen­tiles who was raptured out of the world before God poured out His wrath in the great flood of Noah’s time. Enoch ap­pears to be a type of the Gentile Church that will be taken out of the world before God pours out His wrath again. If so, then Noah and his family are a type of the Jewish rem­nant that will be pro­tect­ed through the Tribulation.

Another Old Testament symbolic type which points to­ward a pre-Tribulation Rapture is the experience of Lot and his family. They were delivered out of Sodom and Gomor­rah before those cities were destroyed.

The Apostle Peter al­ludes to both of these examples in his sec­ond epistle. He states that if God spared Noah and Lot, then He surely “knows how to rescue the godly from trial and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment” (2 Peter 4-9).

Another beautiful prophetic type is to be found in the Jewish wedding traditions of Jesus’s time. After the betroth­al, the groom would return to his father’s house to prepare a wedding chamber for his bride. He would return for his bride at an unexpected moment, so the bride had to be ready constantly. When he returned, he would take his bride back to his father’s house to the chamber he had prepared. He and his bride would then be sealed in the chamber for seven days. When they emerged, a great wed­ding feast would be celebrated.

Likewise, Jesus has returned to Heaven to prepare a place for His bride, the Church. When He returns for His bride, He will take her to His Father’s heavenly home. There He will remain with His bride for seven years (the duration of the Tribulation). The period will end with “the marriage supper of the Lamb” described in Revela­tion 19. Thus the seven days in the wedding cham­ber point prophetically to the seven years that Jesus and His bride will remain in Heaven during the Tribulation.

Revelation

Speaking of Revelation, the structure of that book also implies a pre-Tribulation Rapture in a sym­bolic sense. The first three chapters focus on the Church. Chapter 4 begins with the door of Heaven opening and John being raptured from the isle of Patmos to the throne of God in Heaven. The Church is not mentioned thereafter until Rev­elation 19:7-9 when it is portrayed as the “bride of Christ” in Heaven with Jesus celebrating the “marriage supper of the Lamb.” At Revelation 19:11 the door of Heaven opens again, and Jesus emerges riding a white horse on His way to earth, followed by His Church (Rev. 19:14).

The rapture of the Apostle John in Revelation 4 ap­pears to be a symbolic type of the Rapture of the Church. Note that it is initiated by the cry of a voice that sounds like the blowing of a trumpet (Rev. 4:1). Since the Tribula­tion does not begin until Revela­tion 6, the rapture of John in Revela­tion 4 appears to be a symbolic type that points to a pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Church.

Some counter this argument by pointing out that al­though the Church is not mentioned in Reve­lation during that book’s description of the Tribula­tion, there is constant men­tion of “saints” (for ex­ample, Rev. 13:7). But that term is not used in the Bible exclusively to refer to members of the Church. Daniel uses it to refer to Old Testament believers who lived long before the Church was established (Dan. 7:18). The saints referred to in the book of Revelation are most likely those people who will be saved during the Tribu­lation, after the Church has been taken out of the world.

Paul’s Assurance

An interesting argument in behalf of the pre-Tribulation timing of the Rapture can be found in 2 Thessalonians. The church at Thessalonica was in a turmoil because someone had written them a letter under Paul’s name stating that they had missed the “gathering to the Lord” and were, in fact, living in “the day of the Lord” (2 Thess. 2:1-2).

Paul attempted to calm them down by re­minding them of his teaching that the day of the Lord would not come until after the Antichrist is revealed. He then stated that the Antichrist would not be revealed until a restraining force “is taken out of the way” (2 Thess. 2:3-7).

There has been much speculation as to the identify of this restraining force that Paul refers to. Some have identi­fied it as the Holy Spirit. But it cannot be the Holy Spirit because there will be people saved during the Tribulation, and no one can be saved apart from the testimony of the Spirit (John 16:8-11 and 1 John 5:7).

Others have identified the restrainer as human govern­ment. It is true that government was ordained by God to restrain evil (Romans 13:1-4). But the governments of the world are in rebellion against God and His Son (Psalm 2), and they are therefore a contributor to the evil that charac­terizes the world. Furthermore, the Tribulation will not be characterized by a lack of government. Rather, it will feature the first true worldwide government (Rev. 13:7).

In my opinion that leaves only one other candidate for Paul’s restrainer - and that is the Church. It is the Church that serves as the primary restrainer of evil in the world today as it proclaims the Gospel and stands for righteous­ness. When the Church fails in this mission, evil multiplies, as Paul graphically points out in 2 Timothy 3:1-5. Paul says that society in the end times will be characterized by chaos and despair because “men will hold to a form of religion but will deny its power.” When the Church is removed from the world, all hell will literally break loose.

Escapism?

The pre-Tribulation concept of the Rapture has often been condemned as “escapism.” I think this criticism is unjustified. The Bible itself says that Christians are to “com­fort one another” with the thought of the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:18). Is it a comfort to think of the Rapture occurring at the end of the world’s worst period of war instead of at the beginning?

Regardless of when the Rapture actually occurs, we need to keep in mind that the Bible teaches that societal conditions are going to grow increasingly worse the closer we get to the Lord’s return. That means Christians will suf­fer tribulation whether or not they go into the Great Tribula­tion. And that means all of us had better be preparing our­selves for unprecedented suffering and spiritual warfare.

If you are a Christian, you can do that on a daily basis by putting on “the full armor of God” (Eph. 6:13), praying at all times in the Spirit that you will be able to stand firm against the attacks of Satan (Eph. 6:14-18).

If you are not a Christian, your only hope is to reach out in faith and receive the free gift of God’s salvation which He has provided through His Son, Jesus (John 3:16).