Rapture of the Church?
The doctrine of the ‘Rapture’ is an interpretation of Paul’s description in 1 Thessalonians Chapter 4 of both resurrected saints and those believers still alive at the time “meeting Jesus in the air” as he is descending from heaven. According to this view, the church is physically removed from the Earth and transported to heaven by the Lord, presumably to a nonphysical and timeless reality outside of the space-time continuum.
Discussions about this doctrine usually revolve around the
question of when the ‘Rapture’ will occur? Before the “Great Tribulation,”
at its midpoint or its end?
But this question misses a fundamental point. Nowhere does the New
Testament even mention a ‘Rapture’ at all, or at least, not by that term if we
mean by it the removal of the church from the Earth.
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This interpretation is dependent almost entirely on a particular reading of this passage in Paul's first Letter to the Thessalonians. But to find it in that passage, one must make several assumptions that are then imported into the passage - (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
INCORRECT ASSUMPTIONS
First is the idea that as Jesus descends from heaven, he
suddenly reverses course and returns to heaven with his church now in tow,
something the passage never refers to or describes. It only ends with the
statement, “and so will we be with the Lord forevermore.” It never
states where this happy condition will be beyond “in the air.” The conclusion
of the passage can just as easily fit a scenario where the saints accompany
Jesus as he continues his descent to the Earth.
Second, the Pre-Tribulation ‘Rapture’ view sees the passage in 1
Thessalonians as evidence that this is a “coming” of Jesus distinct from
his arrival to judge the wicked. It becomes necessary to assume that more time is
needed to complete additional events on the Earth following the ‘Rapture’ such
as the Tribulation, the final judgment, and the Millennium. Therefore, there
must be more than one “coming” of the Lord.
Third, since the passage makes no mention of the final judgment, it
is assumed that it will occur at another time and following a different “coming”
of Jesus. This line of reasoning is little more than an argument from silence.
Other passages refer to the judgment of the wicked and the righteous
when he “arrives” from heaven to gather his elect. Is it not more
logical to conclude that these several passages all describe specific aspects
of the one future “coming” of Jesus? – (e.g., Matthew 24:31,
25:31-46, 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10, 2:1-12).
And the preceding argument ignores the larger context of Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians. In the very next chapter, he warns that the unprepared will be overtaken by the events of this same day - “Like a thief in the night.”
The Apostle labels this event the “Day of the Lord,” which
elsewhere associated with God’s judicial punishment of the wicked. And in his
second letter to the Thessalonians, he declares that the day Jesus is “revealed
from heaven” will mean vindication for the righteous but everlasting
destruction for the wicked. Both occur at the same time - (1 Thessalonians
8:1-9, 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).
A further problem is the consistent picture elsewhere in the New
Testament of the “coming” of Jesus. He is always “coming” to the
Earth and never depicted as departing from it. And the New Testament always
refers to ONE future “coming” of Jesus, never two or more.
Nowhere is the plural form of the noun or verb applied to his future arrival whether
the term is “coming,” “arrival,” “revelation,” or “appearance.”
It is always singular.
And when any direction is provided by such a passage, Jesus is always
coming “from heaven” and descending to the Earth - (Matthew
16:27, Matthew 24:30, Matthew 25:31, Matthew 26:64, Acts 1:11, 2 Thessalonians
1:7, Revelation 1:7, 1 Corinthians 15:23, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians
4:16).
No single passage covers every aspect of his “coming,” but
between the related passages, consistent features emerge.
FINAL EVENTS
The most comprehensive list of the things that will occur when
Jesus arrives is provided in First Corinthians. His “arrival”
will include the resurrection of the dead, the cessation of
death (the “last enemy”), the final subjugation of all
hostile powers, the consummation of the kingdom, and the transformation
of the saints still alive from mortality to immortality - (1
Corinthians 15:20-28).
And that event will result in the separation of the righteous from the unrighteous. It will mean joy to the prepared but disaster to the unprepared - (Matthew 13:30. 25:13, 25:31-46, Luke 12:33-39, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6).
His “revelation” from heaven will mean vindication for his
people but “everlasting punishment” for those that persecuted them. At his
“arrival,” the “Man of Lawlessness” will be destroyed, and the
old order will cease when the “New Heavens and the New Earth” commence on
that same day - (2 Thessalonians 1:5-10, 2:8-10, 2 Peter 3:10-12).
And this sequence of events rings with great finality.
Death will cease, and the New Creation will commence. Resurrected believers
will be with the Lord “forevermore,” but the unrighteous will receive “everlasting”
separation from his presence - (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, 2 Thessalonians
2:5-10).
The church’s hope is not found in escape from the physical
creation but in the raising of the dead and the New Creation. The Gospel
is about redemption, not
abandonment, and this will include the resurrection of the righteous
dead - (e.g., John 5:29, Romans 6:5, 8:19-25, 1 Corinthians
15:20-28, Philippians 3:10, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
In
short, not only does Scripture never mention the ‘Rapture’ by name, but this
interpretation is also incompatible with the biblical hope of redemption, and
that hope includes the bodily resurrection of believers and the New Creation.
