A Biblical and Historical Look at the “Rapture”
By Pr. Rich Futrell,
The belief in the Rapture teaches that one day, without warning, Christians will “be taken” up to heaven, while non-Christians will be left behind on the earth. God will remove Christians from the earth to spare them the Anti-Christ’s tribulation, which the rest of the world will have to endure.
This teaching of the Rapture is a new and radical misunderstanding of Scripture. According to the Scripture–and the official teachings of the Lutheran Church, Roman Catholic Church, Coptic Church, Eastern-Orthodox Churches, and even Southern Baptists!–the true Rapture is not what the popular use of Rapture is.
What is the real Rapture? It is the momentous and visible second coming of Jesus on the Last Day. That is the only “Rapture.” It will not be a secret event when Christians will suddenly disappear, and unbelievers will be “left behind.” Every eye will see the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
We usually won’t find the word “rapture” in our translations of Scripture. But it does tie in to 1 Thessalonians 4:17. There, the Apostle Paul says that when the Lord comes again, “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them [those who have died] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” The Greek word for “will be caught up together” is arpagisometha, which some translate as “rapture.” This hails back to an older meaning of “rapture,” which means to “transport.”
The idea of a rapture–when Christ comes unseen to whisk believers away secretly, and only later comes back for everyone else publicly–is a novel teaching. It was almost unheard of until John Nelson Darby came up with it in the 1830s. Today, many call Darby’s teachings, “Dispensationalism.”
Even more, this “rapture “idea did not widely catch fire within North American Christianity until the 1970s with Hal Lindsey’s popular book, The Late Great, Plant Earth. Today, the Left Behind series continues to promote this teaching. However, even among Protestants, the “rapture” is a new idea. This is shown by what the Southern Baptist’s 1963 “Faith and Mission Statement” says, where you will find no teaching of the “rapture”:
God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness.
Does Jesus have anything to say about all this? We know that Jesus said nothing about sparing anyone from tribulation or suffering. In fact, He said, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Nowhere did Jesus ever say that He would return secretly to “rapture” Christians. Instead, He promised to be with His Church in all tribulations: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).
Even more, Jesus had this to say about being the persecuted: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for the reign of heaven is theirs” (Matthew 5:10).
Those who see “the Rapture” in Matthew 24:40-41 and Luke 17:34-35, only understand those verses based on our English translations, not the original Greek of the New Testament. These verses refer to the Last Day, when Jesus will publicly separate Christians from non-Christians.
So then, what do verses like “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left” mean? The Greek word for “left” or “left behind” is the Greek word for “forgiven”: aphiami. And that’s the point: one will be taken (where is not explicitly stated) and one will be forgiven. These passages in Matthew 24:40-41 and Luke 17:34-35, refer to Christ’s second coming on the Last Day when He will judge the living and the dead and separate believers from unbelievers.
A major problem with the so-called Rapture is that it teaches three comings of Jesus, not two. They are:
- Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem,
- His secret coming to “rapture” Christians, and
- His coming at the end of the world to judge the living and the dead and to reign in glory.
Yet, the Bible only mentions two–not three–comings of Christ! Even more, the Church has always confessed only two comings, not three, even before the New Testament canon was officially recognized at Carthage in 397 AD. So the same Church that defined what books make up the New Testament also confessed the Nicene Creed: “And He [Jesus] will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom [or reign] will have no end.” There is no “Rapture”!
The idea of the so-called “Rapture,” where Christians will be whisked to heaven and non-believers will be left behind is nothing but a false teaching. It is a North American Christian fad from the 1830s that later became popular and, sadly, has stuck around. But false teaching is still false teaching.
