Rapture

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thess 4:16-18). NKJV

Perhaps you have been a bit troubled lately digesting a new twist of an old subject. Naysayers teaching that there will be no rapture of the church. If you are like me you are tired of hearing the proliferous material of misguided teaching on the subject. There is a gross and maligned effort to focus our attention on anything but the contextual and historical interpretation of the Word of God. We only need to look at what Jesus and his followers taught and it will be relatively simple to put the naysayer’s material to rest.

When Jesus taught the disciples He taught that He would one day “go away” but he would “return” and gather all the believers to Himself. Traditionally we have called this the rapture. The word rapture comes to us from the Latin translation of the Scriptures (i.e., Latin Vulgate). Rapture is the English equivalent to the Latin raptura meaning seizure, carrying off or catching away. While the English word “rapture” is not found in the English Bible the truth of the rapture, the catching away—its meaning, is everywhere in Scripture.

Enoch was the first rapture in the Bible “for God took Him” (Genesis 5:24). Never mind then if a rapture is possible—just ask Enoch and you will hear his answer form the pages of God’s Word. Just because the Latin word “rapture” does not appear in the English Bible it does not mean there will not be a “catching away” of all believer one day. Have you ever thought about the word “Bible?” You cannot find that word in the Scripture itself but that does not mean there is not a Bible (i.e, a collection of books). If you will read the Bible clearly and in its context you will find amazingly that Jesus alluded to an event that would take place in the future that sounds just like the “catching away” so descriptive of this Latin word rapture! (Matthew 24, 25) and Paul spoke of it too, (1 Thess 4:16-18; Corinthians 15:51-52) Luke mentions the same event (Acts 1:9-11) and John describes the same (John 14:1-3). This is a really small portion of the Scriptures that speak of an event we describe with the word “rapture.”

I choose to believe Jesus. In addition, I believe the Scripture written by Paul, Luke, John and all the many eyewitnesses of Christ who heard Him teach and preach on the subject! Jesus is coming soon. If you read the Bible you will see this for yourself and the voices that decry this truth will fade away and you will find the comfort Christ gives through this promise. That is why Paul told us the truth of the rapture so that we can, “Therefore, comfort one another with these words” (1 Thess 4:18). Turn to Christ—believe on Him and when He comes—we will go! How comforting! Today, why don’t you live life on the lighter side, comforted with this truth!