The Rapture. Fewer words can conjure up such a dizzying panoply of images and opinions! I remember the words of one author1 who described the Rapture “… as a macabre supernatural dream eluding understanding or explanation, looming on the periphery of my everyday life.”
What is the Rapture, anyway? GotQuestions.org2 provides us with an excellent definition:
“… the rapture is the return of Christ in the clouds to remove all believers from the earth before the time of God’s wrath.”
The Rapture will be the culmination of 2,000+ years of church history! Far from being a “macabre supernatural dream,” it has long been a marvelous source of encouragement for millions of Christians:
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:11-13; emphasis added).
Christians will be caught up to meet with Jesus in the clouds; this will all happen “in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:52), and it will precede the darkest era of human history. Now, you might be asking, “Why is Jesus going to remove Christians from Earth?” Well, why would a loving father pick up his son who is sitting in the middle of the street? Because he wouldn’t want his son to get seriously hurt! As I mentioned just a moment ago, the Rapture will come before an exceedingly dark episode in human history. In fact, nothing else can be likened to it. The purpose of this ghastly point in history will be centered around God’s wrath being poured out on an unrepentant world:
“For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain” (Isaiah 26:21).
2,000 years have passed since Jesus of Nazareth was crucified and rose to life again on the third day. God has given mankind 20 centuries to repent (that is, to have a change of mind about sin) and trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life. Billions have done so throughout the last 2,000 years, but eventually, God, in His infinite goodness and holiness, must administer justice:
“The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked…” (Nahum 1:3).
There are a lot of misconceptions that people have about the Rapture. As always, however, it’s best if we get our information from the Bible directly (instead of relying on what others say about the Bible). The point is that this subject does have massive implications because the whole world will be affected by it. When millions of Christians suddenly vanish, chaos will ensue! The Rapture will not be limited by national borders, either. Christians from all over the earth will disappear… at the same time.
In closing, I would like to share the words of a Christian3 who lived over a millennia ago. His words, though old, still ring forth with truth and urgency:
“We ought to understand thoroughly therefore, my brothers, what is imminent or overhanging… Why therefore do we not reject every care of earthly actions and prepare ourselves for the meeting of the Lord Christ, so that he may draw us from the confusion, which overwhelms all the world?”
Sources:
- https://slate.com/human-interest/2021/05/rapture-fear-evangelical-americans-church-miller.html
- https://www.gotquestions.org/difference-Rapture-Second-Coming.html
- https://www.according2prophecy.org/lastimes.html
