Frequently Asked Questions About the Rapture
What follows are a sampling of questions and answers from chapter 25 of Invitation to a Lavish Feast, The Rapture: Frequently Asked Questions.
Q. Is there a biblical basis for the Rapture?
A. Absolutely. Although the word “Rapture” doesn’t appear in our English translations of the New Testament, for the past four hundred years, students of Bible prophecy have used the term to designate what the apostles describe in passages such as 1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:10; 1 Corinthians 15:47–55; Titus 2:13; Philippians 3:20–21, James 5:8; and 1 John 3:2–3. Jesus Himself referred to this event in John 14:2–3 and Revelation 3:10–11a.
Ed Hindson sums up the matter perfectly in his book, Future Gory:
The truth of the Bible is there must be a rapture. There must be a catching up. There must be a time when dead believers are raised, and the living are caught up into the presence of God. If somebody doesn’t believe in the pretribulational rapture, they should not go around saying, “well I don’t believe there is ever going to be a rapture.” They simply don’t agree with the timing of the event. The fact of the rapture is clear in the Bible.[i]
To say there is no Rapture is to question the reliability of the entirety of Scripture. The New Testament confirms that there will be such an event regardless of where we place it in relation to the Tribulation period. How can one deny it without harming the integrity of God’s Word?
Q. Did the doctrine of the Rapture originate with John Darby?
A. Absolutely not! Those who maintain the lie that John Darby originated the idea of the Rapture deceive a great many believers.
The use of “Rapture” to depict what the apostle described in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 goes back almost four hundred years. In 1627, English Bible commentator Joseph Mede (1586–1639) “used the word ‘rapture’ six times, all in reference to the saints meeting the Lord in the air.”[ii] There’s a long history of Bible scholars using the word “rapture” in regard to Jesus’ appearing to take us back to Heaven.
During the 1740s, another Bible commentator, John Gill, wrote:
Suddenly, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and with force and power…and to which rapture will contribute, the agility which the bodies of the raised and the changed saints will have and this rapture of the living saints will be together with them.[iii]
Several theologians in the early centuries of the Church believed there would be a lengthy time of tribulation on the earth between Jesus taking His saints out of the world and the Second Coming.
As noted in chapter 21, Cyprian, a bishop in the city of Carthage during the third century AD, believed the Lord would remove His Church before a time of catastrophes on the earth. Ephraim the Syrian (AD 306–373), in a sermon entitled “On the Last Times, the Antichrist, and the End of the World,” clearly asserted a belief in a pre-Tribulation Rapture.[iv]
Let me be very candid. If someone insists the doctrine of the pre-Tribulation Rapture originated with John Darby, they are either very much ill-informed or attempting to deceive you. Not only does the New Testament teach that there must be a Rapture, but many throughout the history of the Church believed Jesus would come for His saints before a time of Tribulation that would happen on the earth prior to His Second Coming.
Q. Will the Rapture be secret?
A. Many critics state that we’re wrong for our belief in a “secret Rapture” because it’s unbiblical. While only believers will experience it, the entire world will feel its impact. This will be one of the most dramatic events ever to occur on planet earth. In that sense, I’m always confused when people refer to as “secret.”
In America, the sudden disappearance of tens of millions will have a dramatic effect on all areas of life, with widespread chaos ensuing long afterward. The same will be true in many other parts of the world. This will mark the beginning of the Lord’s direct intervention in the world, and people will notice it.
Those who attach the word “secret” to our hope are simply seeking to add a negative connotation to it. For us, it will be an utterly joyous occurrence. For those left behind, it will be a nightmare.
Q. Will the Lord leave any of His saints behind?
A. When the Lord appears, He will take all those who are truly born again with Him back to Heaven. He will not leave behind any saint to endure the ravages of the Day of the Lord.
All those who have died in Christ will come out of their graves with resurrected bodies. As for the living, everyone who belongs to Him will suddenly find themselves in Glory. Rewards will vary for faithfulness and service. Those who are watching for His appearance will receive a special crown. However, the Lord will not leave even one of His saints behind at the time of the Rapture.
The suggestion that somehow the behavior of believers will be a factor in who Jesus takes at the time of His appearing contradicts the words of Ephesians of 2:8–9. If works have absolutely no role in our salvation, how can they possible factor into its culmination (Romans 8:23–25)?
If Ephesians 1:3–14 represents our eternal standing as redeemed saints, and it does, then it’s out of the question that Jesus would leave any regenerated and justified saint behind at His appearing. What separation can possibly exist between all those who “have become the righteousness of God” in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21)?
Q. If I’m alive at the time, what will I experience when Jesus appears?
A. In 1 Thessalonians 4:16, Paul writes that “the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.” Almost simultaneous with hearing these things, He will change our lowly bodies “to be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21; see also 1 Corinthians 15:51–55).
Because of the instantaneous nature of the Rapture, it’s not possible to say what we will hear or feel in the moment. We may hear the shout and the sound of the trumpet a split second before we meet the Lord in the air. Although it might cause an initial surge of fear, our instant transformation will quickly alleviate any anxiety we might possibly sense.
The Bible assures us Jesus will bring us to Glory, to His Father’s house in Heaven (John 14:2–3; Colossians 3:4). I believe our immediate transformation will preclude any fear we might have. Even if we’re startled, the outcome will be so wondrous that we will soon forget its sudden interruption into our lives. If you have a fear of heights like me, that will disappear at the moment the Rapture begins.
Q. How can I be ready for the Rapture?
A. If you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you will go to Heaven with Jesus when He appears. Jesus secured the reservation for our trip to Glory by the blood He shed on the cross as payment for our sins. At the time of our rebirth, God pronounces us righteous, and nothing can change His decree.
You are ready for the Rapture the moment you come to saving faith in Jesus. He will not leave you behind.
In 2 Timothy 4:8, Paul wrote about a special “crown of righteousness” the Lord will someday award to those who love “his appearing.” Though the Lord will not leave the others behind, the wise watch for His appearing and live in eager anticipation of it.
As our time on the earth becomes all the more foreboding, we will welcome the escape from the terrors that lie ahead in the near future.
[i] Hindson, Future Glory, p. 150.
[ii] Watson, Is this from Dispensationalism before Darby? p. 137.
[iii] John Gill, as quoted in William Watson, Dispensationalism before Darby, p. 322.
[iv] Grant R. Jeffrey, Triumphant Return: The Coming Kingdom of God (Colorado Springs, CO: Waterbrook Press, 2001), p. 174.