‘TAKEN UP INTO THE CLOUDS TO MEET THE LORD’ (1THESS 4:17) — The Problems with the Popular Doctrine of Rapture in Relation to the Time of the Great Tribulation!
WILL THERE BE A RAPTURE FOR THE SAINTS?
Given the obvious controversy arising from the varieties of opinions expressed on the belief in rapture and given that it is a subject that strikes so close to the heart of Christian faith — namely: the hope of everlasting life with Christ — a simple Christian would be anxious to get a clear and direct answer to the question: will there be a rapture of the saints? Here is an answer!
If by the rapture we mean the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, when He will gather the nations before Him and separate the goat from sheep (Matt. 25:33), then there certainly will be a rapture. If by the rapture we mean that someday, in the last days or on the last day, Christ will send His angels to the four corners of the earth to gather all His elect (Mk. 13:27), then there will surely be a rapture. If by the rapture we mean that at His return, the saints — the risen and the living — will be caught up in the clouds to meet the LORD and so be with Him forever (1Thess. 4:18), then there will obviously be a rapture. If by rapture we refer to that mystery by which we will be transformed in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet (1Cor. 15:52), then truly there will be a rapture.
But it is difficult to sustain the claim, both on the authority of the Scriptures and on the teaching office of the Church, that the rapture which St. Paul spoke about in his first letter to the Thessalonians, will happen before the start of the days of the travails or that it is intended to take Christians away from the reign of the Lawless one, the Son of Perdition, whom Christian tradition has identified as the antichrist. It is difficult to prove from the Scripture and from the Magisterium that the rapture is different from the Second Coming or that in a sudden silent swift instant all good people will be taken away from the earth or that the gathering of the saints unto Christ will be twice, before and after the tribulations. The later are not supported by the Scripture and the Church, our Mother and Teacher.
IS ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE POPULAR RAPTURE DOCTRINE?
A clear and direct answer to this is: yes, there is! And indeed, not one! Those who ascribe to the popular doctrine of rapture as an apocalyptic or eschatological event, that would take good Christians away from the earth and up to heaven before the tribulations begin, base their belief on 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 and support it primarily with Mathew 24:36–51, Mark 13:32–37 and Luke 12:35–48; 17:20–37. The problem then is that the interpretation of these texts in the light of the rapture doctrine drawn from them do not match the true context and content of the texts. Thus, the popular doctrine of rapture has many unanswered questions. It has been built on a faulty foundation. In the foregoing, we shall therefore, briefly examine some of the major discontents of the popular doctrine of rapture, in the light of its own four major biblical foundational texts.
DID ST. PAUL CONNECT THE RAPRTURE TO THE TRIBULATION?
The entire chapter of First Thessalonians chapter four on which the popular doctrine of rapture is based, does not mention the tribulation or the antichrist nor does it allude to them in its entire discourse. The tribulations of the earth and chastisement of those who will refuse to take the mark of the beast or refuse to worship the beast are given as the reasons why the saints will be raptured and ‘taken up’ to safety and to meet the LORD in the clouds, but the primary scripture of this teaching neither mentions the word antichrist or tribulation nor does it allude to them in any way. The connection that has been made by some preachers between the popular doctrine rapture and the hour of chastisement cannot be traced to 1 Thessalonians chapter four and cannot also be traced to the Apostle Paul.
IS THE RAPTURE AN ESCAPE FROM THE TRIBULATION?
The Scriptural text from which the Latin root word ‘raptura’ and core idea of the rapture was drawn does not make any express promise that faithful Christians will be taken away from the earth before the beginning of the tribulations and the reign of the antichrist. Yes, it spoke about Christians being ‘taken up’ to meet the LORD in the clouds; but it does not say that this is to take them away particularly from the antichrist and from the tribulations that would befall the earth. Read the entire chapter again! Therefore, the promise that Christians will be taken away to Christ before the hour of the tribulation and the Lawless one, does not come from St. Paul and cannot be directly traced to any of his letters and teachings.
WILL THE RAPRTURE BE PRIOR TO THE TRIBULATION?
Will the rapture of the saints as described by the Apostle Paul happen directly or around the onset of the great tribulation? The passage of 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 does not indicate in any way that this ‘taking up’ of the saints to the clouds, will be prior to the great tribulation or before the antichrist manifests himself in the world. Yes, the saints will be transformed and taken up to meet the LORD and so be with Him; but the source-pericope does not assure us that this will directly precede the coming chastisement and the arrival of the antichrist. Is it possible that it will be so? If God will so! But the clear fact is that, this passage upon which the teaching is based, does not say so. Also, the other main supporting passages of the gospel (Mathew 24:36–51, Mark 13:32–37 and Luke 12:35–48; 17:20–37) do not also say that the taking up of the saint to meet the LORD will be prior to the coming of the Lawless one and the travails it will cause upon the earth. In fact, if the synoptic narratives of the events of the end-time were to be taken in a chronological sequence, then the tribulations would precede the Second Coming when the saints would meet the LORD. It is actually the chastisement of Christians and the tribulations that purge the earth, that would set the stage for the LORD’S appearing. The popular belief that the rapture will come before the tribulations of the end-times, is both unscriptural and precarious.
CONSOLE ONE ANOTHER WITH THESE WORDS
The second section of the fourth chapter of the first letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians (verses 13–18) was aimed at consoling bereaved Christians and those believers who feared that either the dead have been lost to Christ (since they will not be alive to witness His return and meet Him in the clouds), or that the living were advantaged over the dead. The Apostle said: “We do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest” (1Thess. 4: 13). The intention of the teaching was clearly stated. It was indeed to teach them about the mystery that at the end of time all shall unite again with the LORD in the clouds, the dead being the first. This is to say that the context of the supposed foundational Scripture of the rapture doctrine was not strictly to teach about the ‘taking away’ of Christians, but more to show that both the living and the dead will eventually meet the LORD at the end of time. The rapture doctrine was taken out from the text without regard to the proper didactic context.
BUT THERE IS ONLY ONE SECOND COMING
The text used principally to teach the popular doctrine of rapture is a teaching given by St. Paul to the Thessalonians on the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. But the rapture as it is taught does not refer to the Second Coming of Christ but to a sort of sudden silent harvest of faithful Christians. As the rapture teaching holds, before the tribulations, Jesus will first come quietly, to take His faithful followers, both the living and the dead, away to heaven (the first Second Coming), and again return gloriously, after the tribulation (the second Second Coming). But, neither this text nor any other in the bible supports this view. It is only an assumption. The text of 1 Thessalonians chapter four was used for a purpose it was not meant for. Whereas the text describes the Second Coming of Christ, the popular rapture doctrine does not refer to the Second Coming of Christ.
WHEN JESUS RETURNS EVERY EYE SHALL SEE HIM
As we have seen, there is only one Second Coming of the LORD. In addition to this, the bible also shows us that when the moment of that Second Coming arrives EVERY EYE SHALL SEE THE LORD JESUS, His return will not be a ‘silent’ and ‘swift’ event. “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him — even those who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be” (Rev. 1:7). Unlike, how the rapture is made to look, the Second Coming of the LORD JESUS will not be a silent secret event. Rather, all will see His arrival in the clouds (Matt.24:30; 26:64; Mark 14:62) He will sit upon His throne and all the nations will be gathered before Him. (Matt. 25:31–33). He will come with great glory and with all His angels (Matt. 16:27; 25:31; Rev. 19:11–14). “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God” (1Thess. 4:16). Men saw Him ascend; they will also see Him return (Acts 1:11). That he will come ‘like a thief’ means that the hour is unknown, but the event will not be unknown. It will not be mum or mute. He is the LORD; He will summon creation to Himself.
THE GATHERING OF THE SAINTS IS BUT ONCE
The popular doctrine of rapture holds that after the faithful Christians have been taken away before the chastisement, the Christians who were not raptured and others who would turn to Christ during the chastisement will also be taken up to heaven after the chastisement, when Christ returns again to the earth, after the defeat the dragon, the beast and the false prophet. The latter return is believed to be the real Second Coming: and indeed, it is the only Second Coming. But the point is that the bible does not show us that the gathering of the saints at the end of time will be done twice; but rather once. In the parable of the Narrow Gate, which He gave in response to the inquiry “LORD, will only a few people be saved?” (Lk. 13:23), Jesus taught: “Once the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ But he will reply, ‘I do not know where you are from” (Lk. 13:25). He does not give us the impression that the Master will open the gate of Heaven or the New Paradise again and again, at the end of time. It is for this, that God continues to give us countless opportunities to put things right with Him and even warn us to do so quickly before it becomes too late.
THE DAY OF HARVEST IS THE LAST DAY
In the parable of the Weeds, which Jesus used to explain the operation of the Kingdom of God, especially what will happen at the end of time, He shows us that the weed and the wheat are to grow together until the day of harvest. The master says to the servants: “Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time, I will tell the harvesters: first collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat into my barn’” (Matt. 13:30). The wheat and the weed are to grow together until the harvest. On the day of the harvest, the weeds are the first to be taken out and burned; then afterward, the wheats are gathered into the barn. This parable shows that there is but only one harvest day; it does not give room for any kind of mid-way harvest or two harvest seasons. The passage also shows that this harvest is on the last day. The day of the resurrection for all who believe in the Son of Man is the last day (Jn. 6:39,40,44; 11:24). Jesus confirms it to His apostles: “The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are the angels” (Matt. 13:39). The harvest day is that day called the DAY OF THE LORD. The rapture of the saints to meet the LORD, is on the last day! This much, the Scriptures show us.
THE LAST TRUMPET WILL SUMMON THE SAINTS
St. Paul was clear in his teaching about the hour of the gathering of the saints to Christ. He called it a mystery. Then he went on to tell us what will announce the hour of this mystery: the last trumpet. “Listen, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (1Cor. 15:51–52). It is at this last trumpet that the dead will be raised with an imperishable body. It is at this last trumpet that the living will be clothed with immortality, an imperishable body. It is also at the last trumpet that death itself will die. (1Cor. 15:53–54). It is at this last trumpet that our earthly dwelling (perishable body) will be destroyed and we will be clothed with our heavenly dwelling (imperishable body). (2Cor. 5:2).
In the book of Revelation, we read about the fulfilment of this mystery in connection with the sounding of the last trumpet. “In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be fulfilled, just as He proclaimed to His servants, the prophets” (Rev. 10:7). As God revealed it to His servants the prophets (Am. 3:7), the mystery of our being clothed with the heavenly garment of immortality, will be fulfilled at the time of the last trumpet, not before it. The events that happens after the sounding of the seventh trumpet, the last trumpet of the book of Revelation, confirms this. “Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our LORD and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.” (Rev. 11:15). At this point, the twenty-four elders threw down their crowns and praised God saying: “The time has come to judge the dead, and to reward Your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear Your name, both small and great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.” (Rev. 18).
This is when the saints are raptured (1Thess. 4:17) and transformed (1Cor. 15:52). This is also when the dead are judged and the saints are rewarded. (Rev. 11:18). This is when the beast (antichrist) and the false prophet are captured and thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulphur (Rev. 19:20) This is when the army of the antichrist is destroyed and given as food to the birds of heaven. (Rev. 19:21; 11:18) and this is when the old earth is finally done away with. (2Pet. 3:10).
‘ALIVE AND REMAIN’, ‘ALIVE AND LEFT’
A closer reading of the pericope of 1 Thess. 4:15–18 and of the above phrases show that they strictly refer to the Second Coming of the LORD. It says: “We declare to you that we who are ALIVE AND REMAIN UNTIL THE COMING OF THE LORD will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep” (1Thess. 4:15). Above all, it indicates that the saints are actually to ‘BE LEFT’ and ‘TO REMAIN’ ON THE EARTH UNTIL THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD and not ‘taken away’ from the earth before the Second Coming of the LORD. This understanding is necessary because, the beginning of the tribulations, (when it is believed the rapture will happen), does not coincide in time with the Second Coming of the LORD, which is supposed to be at the end of the timeline, with the defeat of the Lawless one, whom the LORD JESUS will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendour of His coming (2Thess. 2:8). Rather than offering us a hope of being taken away from the earth before the last chastisement, the Scriptures (and private revelations) more or less point to the fact that the Church will remain on earth, until the arrival of the heavenly Bridegroom.
KEPT FROM THE HOUR OF TESTING
However, this is not to say that LORD will totally abandon His elect to the power of the antichrist. Far from it. On the contrary, the LORD JESUS will let His elect know His power and protection in the midst of unprecedented plagues, pandemics, turmoils and tumults; as the psalmist says: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” (Ps. 23:5). Revelation 3:10 says: “Because you have kept My command to endure with patience, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” Trusting in such biblical promises of protection as well as the human experiences of actual divine protection for God’s people today, some even believe that those that will actually be quickly ‘taken away’ from the earth are the unfaithful people and not the faithful saints.
Our attempt to show that the rapture is not meant to take Christians away from the tribulations, is not also to say that the saints will not be shielded from the wrath of the Man of Lawlessness. It is to say that, as the Scriptures severally point out, the saints will remain and be preserved on earth, until the LORD’S arrival. At His glorious arrival, the LORD will overthrow the Lawless one and take the saints to Himself, to His new paradise. But it is also certain that the activities of the antichrist as well as the calamities that will befall the earth, will actually take away lives — the unfaithful as well as the faithful. New martyrs will be born! But it is only God who knows why and how these things will be!
Michael Richmond Duru
May 9th 2020
https://michaelrichmondduru.medium.com/subscribe
