Rapture
The majority of Christians believe that there is to be a "rapture" of the church/Christians just before the beginning of the "Great Tribulation" that comes in the last days. This beleif has become especially popular through the fictional writings of Tim LaHaye in his "Left Behind" series. Christians that believe in the rapture will tell you that they are going to be spared the suffering that all other non-believers will have to go through during the Great Tribulation, for the Christians will be "raptured" up into the clouds to meet "Jesus" in the air, and will forever be with him in paradise. The scriptures that are commonly quoted to support this belief are these:
1Th 4:13 Now, brothers, we do not wish you to be ignorant concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you be sad as others who have no expectation. 1Th 4:14 For if we believe that YahuwehShua died and rose again, so also Elohim shall bring with Him those who sleep in YahuwehShua.
1Th 4:15 For this we say to you by the word of the Master, that we, the living who are left over at the coming of the Master shall in no way go before those who are asleep.
1Th 4:16 Because the Master Himself shall come down from heaven with a shout, with the voice of a chief messenger, and with the trumpet of Elohim, and the dead in Messiah shall rise first.
1Th 4:17 Then we, the living who are left over, shall be caught away together with them in the clouds to meet the Master in the air – and so we shall always be with the Master.
1Th 4:18 So, then, encourage one another with these words.
Mat 24:37 "And as the days of Noahò, so also shall the coming of the Son of Aḏam be.
Mat 24:38 "For as they were in the days before the flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noahò entered into the ark,
Mat 24:39 and they did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also shall the coming of the Son of Aḏam be. Mat 24:40 "Then two shall be in the field, the one is taken and the one is left.
Mat 24:41 "Two shall be grinding at the mill, one is taken and one is left.
Mat 24:42 "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Master is coming.
Luk 17:28 "And likewise, as it came to be in the days of Lot: They were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building,
Luk 17:29 but on the day Lot went out of Seḏom it rained fire and sulphur from heaven and destroyed all.
Luk 17:30 "It shall be the same in the day the Son of Aḏam is revealed.
Luk 17:31 "In that day, he who shall be on the house-top, and his goods in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back.
Luk 17:32 "Remember the wife of Lot.
Luk 17:33 "Whoever seeks to save his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life shall preserve it.
Luk 17:34 "I say to you, in that night there shall be two in one bed, the one shall be taken and the other shall be left.
Luk 17:35 "Two shall be grinding together, the one shall be taken and the other shall be left.
Luk 17:36 "Two shall be in the field, the one shall be taken and the other shall be left."
Luk 17:37 And they answering, said to Him, "Where, Master?" And He said to them, "Where the body is, there also the eagles shall be gathered together."
Mat 25:1 "Then the reign of the heavens shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Mat 25:2 "And five of them were wise, and five foolish.
Mat 25:3 "Those who were foolish, having taken their lamps, took no oil with them,
Mat 25:4 but the wise took oil in their containers with their lamps.
Mat 25:5 "Now while the bridegroom took time, they all slumbered and slept.
Mat 25:6 "And at midnight a cry was heard, ‘See, the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him!’
Mat 25:7 "Then all those maidens rose up and trimmed their lamps.
Mat 25:8 "And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’
Mat 25:9 "But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, indeed, there would not be enough for us and you. Instead, go to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’
Mat 25:10 "And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut.
Mat 25:11 "And later the other maidens also came, saying, ‘Master, Master, open up for us!’
Mat 25:12 "But he answering, said, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
Mat 25:13 "Watch therefore, because you do not know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Adam is coming.
Luk 21:36 "Watch then at all times, and pray that you be counted worthy to escape all this about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Aḏam."
Christians take the passages of Scripture listed above and interpret them to say that they (Christians) will be "raptured" and snatched up from the earth by Messiah and will therefore not have to go through any of the hard times of the "Great Tribulation" mentioned in Revelation. Here are some passages of Scripture that plainly contradict the "Rapture" teaching:
1Th 4:13 Now, brothers, we do not wish you to be ignorant concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you be sad as others who have no expectation. 1Th 4:14 For if we believe that YahuwehShua died and rose again, so also Elohim shall bring with Him those who sleep in YahuwehShua.
1Th 4:15 For this we say to you by the word of the Master, that we, the living who are left over at the coming of the Master shall in no way go before those who are asleep.
1Th 4:16 Because the Master Himself shall come down from heaven with a shout, with the voice of a chief messenger, and with the trumpet of Elohim, and the dead in Messiah shall rise first.
1Th 4:17 Then we, the living who are left over, shall be caught away together with them in the clouds to meet the Master in the air – and so we shall always be with the Master.
1Th 4:18 So, then, encourage one another with these words.
Notice that Shaul states twice that is the "Living who are left over". The "Living who are left over" are those believers that are still alive and SURVIVED the Great Tribulation. They are "left over" and are survivors of the persecution that the beast and the false prophet will inflict on the followers of YahuwehShua Messiah. The greek word "perileipomeni", according to Thayer's Greek Lexicon, means "to leave over". This word occurs only twice in the New Testament, and is found only in the verses we are discussing: I Thess. 4:15 & 17. It is interesting that this verb is a present passive participle, and according to Thayer should be translated "to survive". So, a more accurate translation would be "we, the living who survive". Survive what? The Great Tribulation. What do they survive? Notice the following passages:
Rev 12:16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.
Rev 12:17 And the dragon (Ha Shatan) was enraged with the woman, and he went to fight with the remnant of her seed, those guarding the commands of Elohim and possessing the witness of YahuwehShua Messiah.
Satan is furious because he cannot kill the "woman" that Elohim protects, so what does he do? He goes to persecute those followers of Messiah that are NOT protected from him! So what does he do to these followers of Messiah when he persecutes them?
Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones – and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them – and the lives of those who had been beheaded because of the witness they bore to YahuwehShua and because of the Word of Elohim, and who did not worship the beast, nor his image, and did not receive his mark upon their foreheads or upon their hands. And they lived and reigned with Messiah for a thousand years.
So from this passage we learn that there is a group that will have authority in the 1,000 year kingdom of Messiah to reign with Him on thrones, because they were BEHEADED for their beliefs! They would not "worship the beast, nor his image, and did not receive his mark upon their foreheads or upon their hands"! Perhaps there will be a resurrection of the guillotine to perform this mass execution of Messiah's people.
When does the Return of Messiah occur? When does the first resurrection of Messiah's people occur? AFTER the "Great Affliction". The following passages will clarify this.
Mat 24:29 “And immediately after the distress of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give its light, and the stars shall fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
Mat 24:30 “And then the sign of the Son of Adam shall appear in the heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of Adam coming on the clouds of the heaven with power and much esteem.
Mat 24:31 “And He shall send His messengers with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
Notice that Messiah comes "immediately after the distress of those days", and THEN the messengers gather His chosen ones to Him. There is no "pre-tribulation rapture" taught by our Master.
Another insight as to when Messiah comes is given by Shaul:
1Th 4:16 Because the Master Himself shall come down from heaven with a shout, with the voice of a chief messenger, and with the trumpet of Elohim, and the dead in Messiah shall rise first.
Which trumpet of Elohim is this? It is important to find out, for this is when the "dead in Messiah" rise, and it is at the coming of our Master! Let's examine I Corinthians 15, for Shaul gives us another clue:
1Co 15:51 See, I speak a secret to you: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Here Shaul says that the resurrection and the "change" of the living will occur at the "LAST trumpet"! So the question naturally arises: "which trumpet is the last trumpet"? Messiah reveals this to us in His Revelation:
Rev 11:15 And the seventh messenger sounded, and there came to be loud voices in the heaven, saying, “The reign of this world has become the reign of our Master, and of His Messiah, and He shall reign forever and ever!”
This trumpet is the LAST trumpet mentioned in Revelation and it is the 7th trumpet, which is the LAST trumpet. When this trumpet sounds Messiah will come and reign on the earth, establishing His kingdom!
Also note 2 Thessalonians 2:
2Th 2:8 And then the lawless one shall be revealed, whom the Master shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth and bring to naught with the manifestation of His coming.
Messiah will destroy the false-prophet/anti-messiah at his coming! So the persecution of the set-apart ones has to be before the coming of Messiah, for our Master destroys him when He comes! Hallelu-Yah!
Favor and peace to all, Sabatismos