Recent controversies in the news this year require us to bring clarity to the Rapture. First, the “Rapture” is not a biblical word. The apostle Paul referred to it as “the day of Christ” (2 Thessalonians 2:1, 2 NKJV). Second, this is an event that occurs at Christ’s return, when Christians are seized, caught away, taken (by force) to be with their Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
Even the early church at Thessalonica had their difficulties
over the timing of the Rapture. They expected “the day of Christ” to
occur during their lifetime. It wouldn’t, the apostle Paul informed them. In
his second letter to the Thessalonians, he corrected some false ideas about the Lord’s
return. Paul also assured those who thought they had missed “the day of Christ”
that they hadn’t—because all the signs had not manifested (2 Thessalonians
2:1-12 NKJV).
Note that Jesus said all occurrences surrounding his return
would complete themselves within the span of one generation (Matt 24:27, 34).
So, although we cannot know the specific “day or hour” of
Christ’s return (Matt 24:36), we can know when the Rapture-event will occur:
And the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17 NKJV).
When we see our dead friends and relatives stand up from their resting places, know that our Rapture is imminent because they join us in the event!
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Scripture quotations from New King James Version (NKJV)
unless otherwise noted; Greek definitions from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance
of the Bible: caught up #726 – harpazō, har-pad’-zo;
to seize:—catch (away, up),
pluck, take (by force) [like Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:2, 4]; rise #450 –
anistēmi, an-is’-tay-mee; to stand up:—raise up (again); rise
(again); Connected with Blog #6; excerpts from our book to be released next
year.
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