One of the most controversial passages in the Bible is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.
Currently, the words of these two verses are being interpreted as describing a secret Rapture at the beginning of a supposed seven-year period of Tribulation, which will then be followed by the visible Second Coming of Jesus Christ. I should first point out that the word “Rapture” does not occur anywhere in the Bible and was an invention of certain theologians.
The purpose of this short document is to demonstrate the real Rapture Truth and to show clearly that 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 is really a description of the Second Coming of our Lord, and that it is at that time that the truly faithful will be “caught up.
WHAT IS THE RAPTURE?
Sometimes we hear just the term "rapture," and other times we hear of the "secret rapture."
The word "rapture" is not found in the Bible. Rapture is said to be taken from the Latin word rapio which means, to seize, to take by force, and is supposedly the root of the English word, "rape." The Greek word, harpazo, is translated "caught up" in the Authorized Version and "snatched away" in the Concordant Version.
As "rapture" is in popular usage with reference to "caught up" and "snatched away"
in I Thes. 4, we will continue to use the word in this paper.
Rapturists believe that I Thes. 4:13-18 describes a resurrection which includes both the living and the dead uncircumcision saints only, long before the saints of Israel are resurrected at Christ’s second coming. That there will be such a resurrection as outlined in I Thes. 4:13-18, there is no debate among believers. The debate that has raged in religious circles for over a century has to do with the "who and when" of its prophetic fulfillment. Here are the two scenarios:
Who will be in this secret rapture (resurrection)? Some say only the Body of Christ which they claim is composed of Gentiles and a remnant of Jewish believers only. The Apostles and saints of Israel will supposedly be in a resurrection that occurs much later at a different coming or presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. Others believe the Scriptures show that ALL the saints (dead and alive, Jews and Gentiles), are vivified together at Christ’s one and only second coming.
When will this secret rapture take place in prophetic chronology? There are three popular teachings regarding when Christ returns. Many believe that the final seven years of Daniel’s 70th week prophecy are separated by thousands of years from the first 69 weeks, and that the last seven years of this prophecy are to be fulfilled beginning seven years before Christ’s second coming. This then, apparently, is to be seven years of trouble and tribulation. The last three and one-half years is regarded by many as the "Great Tribulation" (Mat. 24:21).
One camp teaches that the rapture will occur before the Great Tribulation and; therefore, are known as pre-tribulationists. A second camp teaches that the rapture occurs in the middle of the seven-year week of Daniel are known as mid-tribulationists. And a third camp teaches that the rapture occurs at the end of the Great Tribulation. They are known as post-tribulationists.
Believe it not!!
Do not believe that Jesus will return in secret, but believe Jesus' own words ..... Matthew 24:27 .....'For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.' ..... Jesus could not be any clearer, every eye will see Him return ..... Revelation 1:7 .....'Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.'
Revelation 1:7 .....'Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.'
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Act 1:10 (Will come back the “same way”)
One of the most popular verses that the people who teach this secret rapture theory hold on to are the verses that say Jesus will return 'as a thief in the night'. If you have been taught that Jesus will return as a thief for the church, then you need to read on and find out the amazing truth about these verses.
1 Thessalonians 5:2 .....'For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.'
2 Peter 3:10 .....'But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.'
You will notice that I have stopped when it says 'thief in the night'. That is because those who hold to the secret rapture teaching stop there also. But the reason they stop right there is because the next line in 2 Peter EXPOSES the teaching as false ..... 2 Peter 3:10 .....
'But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.' ..... Did you see the amazing Bible truth there about the secret rapture theory? The day of the Lord will come as a thief, IN WHICH THE HEAVENS SHALL PASS AWAY WITH GREAT NOISE. The words 'in which' means that these two events happen at the same time. Jesus returns as a thief and at the same time the heavens pass away with great noise and the elements melt with great heat. This one verse exposes the secret rapture theory to be false. So who could Jesus be coming 'as a thief' for?
So here Paul gives the real rapture truth, Jesus comes down from heaven, true believers are caught up together, and sudden destruction comes upon the lost. All of this takes place on “that day,” which is “the day of the Lord.”
These words occur near the end of Paul’s first letter to the early Christian Thessalonians. Paul wrote a second letter to these very same Christians at Thessalonica which taught exactly the same thing.
In 2 Thessalonians 2:1, Paul wrote to the same group about “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him.” (A perfect parallel to 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
Right before this, in chapter one, Paul wrote about this same gathering. After describing the “persecutions and tribulations” which these early believers where enduring, Paul wrote: “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: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10)
So we find that careful comparisons reveal that all three of these Bible passages; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-5:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 and 2:1 describe the very same day when Jesus Christ comes down from heaven, when His faithful people are gathered together, and when sudden destruction comes upon all the lost.
When all three sections are put together, it becomes clear that Jesus is coming with a shout, a voice, a trumpet, with mighty angels, and in flaming fire to catch up all the true believers and to destroy the lost. Again, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-5:3, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 and 2:1 all describe the same event - the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Clearly, it is at this time His church will be “caught up.” If you aren’t sure what the real rapture truth is, just read for yourself in your own Bible.
The hour is late. There is no time to be “caught up” in false theories!
As in the Days of Noah
The Rapturists would have us believe that the Lord comes secretly to rescue His people before what they call 'the great tribulation' or time of trouble begins. To support this idea they quote the Lord Jesus as saying:
'As the days of Noah were, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be ... then shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken, the other left.
Watch therefore for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.' Matt. 24:37-42.
How often we have heard this text used to challenge sinners to come to Christ and of the terrible things that will happen when their Christian friends and relatives have been 'raptured'.
Let us not take the text from its context to make it a pretext. The clear setting and key to the understanding of the verse is: 'As it was in the days of Noah', and we all know that then it was the wicked who were taken away and the righteous left to inherit a purified earth. Such a concept of the removal of the wicked is in keeping with the clear teaching given by our Lord in two of His Kingdom Parables.
In that of the Wheat and the Tares, we are told that the harvest is the end of the age, when the angels will gather out of the kingdom, the tares which represent the wicked or those who offend. Again in the same thirteenth chapter of Matthew's Gospel, we find the Parable of the Dragnet. In its symbolism it is the bad or evil ones who are removed out of the Kingdom for Jesus says:
'So shall it be at the end of the world (age), the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from the just.'
Matt. 13:49.If a third witness were needed the Old Testament prophet Isaiah tells us:
'Behold the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate, and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.'
Let me ask you to consider very carefully just who the Lord will 'rapture' or remove. Surely it is His intention to give this earth into the possession of the righteous as He said in His Sermon on the Mount. Did not our Lord pray in John 17: 15:
'I pray NOT that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from evil'?
Surely our Lord promised to be with us not until the 'secret rapture' but 'to the end of the age.'
Exhortation
Dear Reader I pray God that you will understand Jesus own word
Understanding the procedure
He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn. Mt 13:24
The Parable of the Tares Explained
Mat 13:36-43 reads the followings 36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” 37 He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
I want to rejoice like Peter & John: Happy that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonour for the Name Act5:41
I want to be left behind to be persecuted for believing in Jesus Christ; the secret rapture will say GOD will send Moses and Elijah to do the works or maybe Elijah and Enoch….
The Word of GOD in Luke 16:29 ‘Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No … but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead. I know Elijah, Moses & Enoch… was Man just like us doing what God ask them to do in the same way in those days of persecution we will have the power to do all kind of miracle as it will not be by our might or power , but by The Spirit of The Lord of Hosts.
Deep explanation (the eagle)
Do 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 is she. Job 39:27-30
now watch this: Jesus said:
I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left… Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left…And they answered and said to Him, “Where, Lord?” (Where will they go or taken?)
So He said to them, “Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”… Luc 17:34-37 …. Does it mean taken or go to Paradise? the eagles will gather to eat what is dead!...
Rev 19:17-20 …and he cried with a loud voice, Saying to all the Birds that fly in midst of heaven Come and gather yourselves together unto the great supper of God; that you may eat the flesh of Kings and Captain…and flesh of all men….
… And the beast was taken and with him the false prophet…
What does not and will never make sense to those believing in secret rapture
That’s Revelation 11: 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified
I will explain in all depth in my new article coming soon: title (Understanding the two witness )
We must consider that (The Almighty God) JESUS CHRIST cannot contradict himself …
if the secret rapture was biblically proven God’s based word then as we know in the time of Noah only 1 group remained alive after the rapture…
But this Satanic theories tells Christian: there’s second Chance doctrine: where by people (Christian) will acknowledge after the rapture truly there’s a God in heaven who loved them so much and his given then a second chance to stop: fornicate, cheat, steal, rape, murder… in exchange they will have to go through tribulation for a time period of three and half year…the devil is a liar
we can affirm; even the Angels in heaven does not know the time and days, as Apostle Paul went through tribulation, the Children of Israel in the Passover, Daniel friends in the furnace.... all the martyr in the Bible… Jesus being GOD knew… for then shall be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world Mt 24:21
Remember the 4th person who was with Daniel’s friends in the furnace was JESUS
The blood used in Egypt for the Passover in the frontal doors symbolizing JESUS…
Always Jesus Christ (GOD) assuring, his own that is IAM, so surely He will never forsake us until the end of the age (world)…..
If all the good people were rapture before the great tribulation who will preach GOD true word???
the power of suggestion what we've use to believe
THE ORIGINS (Left behind theory)
When we remember that the Secret Rapture theory was virtually unheard of and untaught until around 1830, it is essential to examine its origins first. Such a teaching was unknown to the early Church Fathers e.g. Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian, who were convinced that the Christian Church would pass through great tribulation at the hands of the antichrist system before the return of the Lord. Furthermore the Rapture theory was not taught by the great stalwarts of the Reformed Faith - Huss, Wycliffe, Luther, Calvin, Knox, Cranmer or even by the Wesley brothers in the 18th Century. Whence came this teaching therefore and where did this novel. idea arise?
At the time of the Reformation, the first Protestants widely believed and taught that the Papacy was antichrist, and the Roman Church the Harlot System of Revelation 17. It therefore became necessary for certain Romish theologians to take the pressure off the Pope by inventing a new school of prophetic interpretation now known as Futurism. It was a Jesuit priest named Ribera (1537-1591) who first taught that the events prophesied in the books of Daniel and Revelation would not be fulfilled until three and a half years at the end of the age when an individual world dictator called Anti-Christ would arise. Thus Ribera laid the foundation of a system of prophetic interpretation of which the Secret Rapture has now become an integral part.
Nevertheless in spite of the efforts of false prophets like Ribera and Cardinal Bellarmine it was not for another two and a half centuries that the Jesuit fables began to gain acceptance by Evangelical Christians. In the early 19th Century Futurism entered the bloodstream of Protestant prophetic teaching by three main roads:
(a) A Chilean Jesuit priest, Emmanuel Lacunza wrote a book entitled 'The Coming of Messiah in Glory and Majesty', and in its pages taught the novel notion that Christ returns not once, but twice, and at the 'first stage' of His return He 'raptures' His Church so they can escape the reign of the 'future antichrist'. In order to avoid any taint of Romanism, Lacunza published his book under the assumed name of Rabbi Ben Ezra, a supposedly converted Jew. Lacunza's book found its way to the library of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and there in 1826 Dr Maitland, the Archbishop's librarian came upon it and read it and soon after began to issue a series of parnphlets giving the Jesuit, Futurist view of prophecy. The idea soon found acceptance in the Anglo-Catholic Ritualist movement in the National Church of England, and soon it tainted the very heart of Protestantism.
(b) The Secret Rapture doctrine was given a second door of entrance at this time by the ministry of one, Edward Irving, founder of the so-called 'Catholic Apostolic Church'. It was in Irving's London church, in 1830, that a young girl named Margaret McDonald gave an ecstatic prophecy in which she claimed there would be a special secret coming of the Lord to 'rapture' those awaiting His return. From then until his death in 1834 Irving devoted his considerable talent as a preacher to spreading the theory of the 'secret rapture'.
(c) However, it was necessary for Jesuitry to have a third door of entrance to the Reforrned fold and this they gained via a sincere Christian, J. N. Darby, generally regarded as the founder of the 'Brethren'. As an Anglican curate Darby attended a number of mysteriously organised meetings on Bible Prophecy at Powerscourt in Ireland, and at these gatherings he learned about the 'secret rapture'. He carried the teaching into the Brethren and hence into the heart of Evangelicalism. With a new veneer of being scriptural the teaching spread and was later popularised in the notes of the Schofield Reference Bible.
So today the three measures of Roman leaven have corrupted the Prophetic teaching of almost all the Fundamentalist world. Well might we say of the 'secret rapture', can any good thing come out of Rome?
CONCLUSION: A CALL AND A WARNING!
Dear reader, it is our sincere and earnest prayer that this article will convince you of the unscriptural nature of the Secret Rapture doctrine. Instead of preparing God's people to face the increasingly difficult days ahead, as tribulation intensifies, this doctrine has deluded millions of Christians into a false notion of escapism, and instead of obeying the Lord's command to resist evil and occupy until He comes, they have been made so Rapture-minded that they no longer even resist the evil, believing not that they will defeat it, but instead be rescued from it.
Let the Christian reader be up and doing in these last days, obeying the great commission given by our Lord in Matthew 10:
'Go, preach saying the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely you have received. Freely give.'
Let the unconverted reader hear again the words of Jesus to one who was a ruler in Israel:
'Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God ... Ye must be born again.' John 3 v 3-7.
Then we will all meet soon at that Great Day, when our Lord translates and resurrects His saints and returns with them to rule and reign upon the Throne of His father David in that great Kingdom that shall never end.
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