The rapture
The rapture is a very fascinating subject that has captured the imagination of many people and frightened even more. But what is the rapture? Is it biblical? And what does it mean for believers?
Intro
The rapture is the belief that before the so-called Great Tribulation comes, all believers will be snatched to heaven and see the judgment from afar. This sounds a bit strange because it would be a new concept and Jesus gave a different impression of it. And in fact, it is not biblical. So don’t worry if you think the rapture has happened and you are left behind.
Some people mention the rapture because it is the most obvious statement of the Bible, some people even mention some Bible verses that give the impression that this has a biblical basis.
But let’s take a look at those passages. This will not only show where the argument went wrong, but it may also be helpful in avoiding the same mistakes when reading the Bible.
The obvious passage
”Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord for ever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
Now, this is the most famous passage that “proves” the rapture, but let us take a closer look. This passage shows in bold what sounds like an argument for the rapture, but in italics what that argument fails to include.
The overall context
The passage is about the issue of the resurrection. That is the issue, and “caught up” only comes up in one statement. The people in the church were concerned that when Jesus returned, the people who had died would not be with Jesus. So this passage describes that when Jesus comes we will all be with Christ, first the resurrection of the dead and then we.
Pressing the interpretation on the text
Everyone has a view or a theology, and when we read the Bible, we apply that view to the Bible and read the text through that lens. The text states that the living believers will meet Jesus in the air, but there is no statement that He will take them back to heaven. Taking into account the first argument (happens along with the resurrection of the dead), we are at the point of Last Judgment, which is described just before the New Jerusalem comes DOWN to earth, so Jesus will not come to pick them up, but His destination is the earth.
Missing key words
If a certain keyword catches your attention, you should dive into it. So what does “snatched up” actually mean (remember, there is no neutral translation because the person doing it is called an interpreter and not a translator)? There are tools that the layman can use like this.
And there we find the word “harpazo”, which in its root word means “to snatch” and can have several meanings in the Bible
- snatch the kingdom of heaven,
- Thief snatches property,
- Satan steals the seed sown in the heart.
- People want to make Jesus king by force
- Wolf attacks the flock
- No one snatches us out of Jesus’ hand
- No one snatches us out of God’s hand
- Philip is caught up in the Spirit
- Paul is snatched from the angry crowd and taken to safety
- someone is caught up in the Spirit to the third heaven
- someone is caught up in the Spirit to Paradise
- believers are taken up into the clouds with the dead
- believers are saved from fire
- the child is saved from the dragon
Although the meanings are very different, they have one thing in common: it is an involuntary action of the object (saved, snatched from hand, stolen, raptured, …) and does not refer to a physical ascension to heaven.
But the word that describes the action is apensis which is only used in two other places: at the arrival of the bridegroom and the welcome of Paul in Rome. In both cases, the people came out to greet the person and followed him the way he came. The explanation of the word also shows that this is the sign of meeting an important person outside the city and guiding them inside. So Jesus’ way is clearly down to earth and not up again.
Supporting evidence
This image or comparison is never used again in the Bible. Other passages are used to support the rapture that refer to different images. So be careful when you derive a theology from a passage that is not repeated, especially if the statement is brief and the content is about something else.
So, as we have learned, this passage shows the OPPOSITE of the rapture: Jesus is coming down with his kingdom.
The left behind
“As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand-mill; one will be taken and the other left. ‘Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.”
Again, this passage is used to argue for the rapture: One is raptured, the other is left behind.
Assumptions
With the glasses of rapture, taken away is a good thing and left behind bad, but the related words do not reflect this, e.g. the devil left Jesus after the temptation. Here, the coming of the Son is compared to the flood in the time of Noah. “Taken away” is also mentioned with the Flood, where it means “taken for judgment. It will be the same at the coming of the Son of Man. So it is likely that “taken away” in this context means: This is for the wicked, the good are left behind!
And there is no mention of where they will be taken. This could very well be the image of the secret police in the Roman Empire who arrested believers for their faith.
The context
What is the story about? It is very vague what the specific fate of the people taken and left is (Matthew may even be intentionally using the ambiguity of the words). The point is that we should be ready, as the verse before says, because the distinction could come in the middle of our work (no time to prepare).
The olive tree perspective
Matthew 24 and 25 are also used as an argument for the rapture. Jesus is asked here what will happen in the last days. Some people interpret this as what happens from the time of the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.
The themes touched upon here describe the destruction of the temple with all the traumatic effects of the Jewish war of 66–73, and are an exhortation to faithfulness in the persecutions and tribulations to come. All of these parables do not refer to a specific time, but to an ongoing commitment to Jesus. The ethic of the goat and the sheep is not an end-time requirement, but an important criterion throughout the Old Testament for believers to fulfill God’s commandment.
The interpretation of the parable of the olive tree as the events of 1948 with the foundation of Israel is a too far-fetched and has no further support in the Bible. It does not refer to the new state of Israel, but was an image for the church in the New Testament, as were many other references to Israel.
A place for us
“‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?”
How does this passage relate to the rapture? Well, it is assumed that these places are places where the faithful will be during the tribulation.
Now, let us look again at this word: Mone. This word is only used one other time in John (in the same chapter!), where it is refers to God’s dwelling in us. This gives the picture of “the believer has a dwelling place in Christ and Christ has a dwelling place in the believer”. In this context, the place is more like a household than a house, belonging to God’s family.
When the rapture happens
The time of the rapture in the Book of Revelation is placed at the beginning of chapter 4.
“After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.’ At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.”
This passage describes John being lifted up in the Spirit to have a vision from heaven-where the seals, trumpets, and bowls come from. This gives him a heavenly view of all things.
This does not speak of him being there permanently, nor does it refer to the whole church.
Rather, it refers to the Old Testament description of the heavenly council, as in Isaiah or the Book of Kings.
Conclusion
The argument for the rapture is based on passages describing different situations that are misinterpreted and taken out of context, ignoring the meaning of key words. There is no biblical evidence for a rapture.