Folks, Welcome to the podcast!
I’ve spoken about the Rapture before on this podcast. And yet many people that I talk with are still confused about it. I view that as my fault. I need to present the Rapture in a clearer way. So, here goes. All from the Scriptures.
First, is there such a thing as The Rapture? Most definitely.
From the three most basic passages:
ONE:
1 Thessalonians 4:14–18 NLT
For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him (from heaven) the believers who have died (Jesus will bring their souls). 15 We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died (their bodies) will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. 18 So encourage each other with these words.
TWO:
1 Corinthians 15:51–53 NLT
But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! 52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. 53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
THREE:
John 14:2–3 NLT
There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.
These three passages clearly fit together as a unit and they describe what will happen. Please just read them, if necessary several times, and take them literally. Then you will know what the Rapture is. It will be a glorious event! There is no judgment involved. That’s why the Apostle Paul says about this event: “Therefore comfort one another with these words”.
But how do we know when the Rapture will occur? I mean, will it be before the Tribulation, after the Tribulation, or part of the way through the Tribulation? It will be before the Tribulation. If it occurs after the Tribulation starts, requiring believers to go through even part of the 7 year Tribulation, the Apostle would not have told the Thessalonians to “comfort one another with these words”.
Another piece of knowledge that tells us that the Rapture will occur before the Tribulation is this: the Rapture is an imminent event. It has the characteristics of imminence. What does that mean? Imminence here has a very special meaning. It is not the definition that you’ll find in Webster’s Dictionary. This is a different kind of imminence. So, what defines this kind of imminence?
This kind of imminence has three characteristics. It describes an event that:
A. Can occur at any time.
B. Has no preconditions attached to it. Nothing has to happen first.
C. Is not necessarily going to happen soon.
It is like something that is hanging over our heads, that could fall upon us with no advance warning at any time, today or years from today. It is not a bad thing like a sword hanging over our heads. That would be a frightening thing. No, folks, the rapture is a good thing, a wonderful thing! I wish it would happen today!
So, because the Rapture is imminent it does not have to occur after the Tribulation or during the Tribulation. That’s how we can know that the Pre-wrath Rapture position, to cite one example, cannot be correct because part of the Tribulation must occur first.
Folks, how do we know that the Rapture has this special kind of imminence? I will explain that in a separate session in the near future.
I want to cover one other thing today, a critically important thing and that is this: What are God’s purposes for the Rapture? Why is Jesus going to come and Rapture us? God knows much better than I do since He is the One who has determined the purposes of the Rapture. However at the moment I can think of three reasons and I will list them now, not necessarily in order of importance. They are all related to the 7 year Tribulation which must follow the Rapture. Here are the three reasons:
1. To deliver the Church from the wrath to come. 1 Thessalonians 1:10 “and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.”
2. To save an incalculable number of Gentiles. This could not happen without the Tribulation and the Tribulation can’t happen without the Rapture. Revelation 14:6 “Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who inhabit the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people.”
3. To save the Jewish Nation, Israel, by raising up the end times Antichrist, so that this can occur: Romans 11:25–26 LSB For I do not want you, brothers, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; 26 and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.”
Art, are you crazy? God will raise up the Antichrist so that all Israel will be saved? Most definitely. I’ll explain next time.
So today we’ve talked about several things:
1. There most definitely will be a Rapture of the Church.
2. The Rapture is an imminent event and we defined imminence.
3. God will accomplish specific purposes through the Rapture.
Next time we will talk more about the purposes of the Rapture.
Thanks for listening!
This is Art Wolinsky.
