Rapture? 

What is this rapture and where is it spoken of in the Bible?  Will God's children simply vanish in the masses leaving unmanned cars and planes to fall or crash? These are a few questions that are on the minds of many Christians today.

Many Christians believe, that the rapture is when Christ returns and gathers His children into the clouds before that terrible day of tribulation. In other words, God's children are spared and saved from the tribulation. Where do they (Christians) get this? Certainly the Bible must speak of the rapture. Let us first look into the past and see where exactly this "rapture" first came into being.

The year was 1830 in western Scotland when a young, mentally unstable girl named Margaret MacDonald began to have visions and visitations from God. She claimed that God had talked with her about a "any moment - pre rapture".

She then went on to say that while being visited or having the presence of God near, it felt very evil. Because of the claimed visions and visitations, Margaret had reached the attention of two men named Edward Irving and John Darby

To learn a bit more about this particular subject, your local Library may have a copy of the book titled, "The Incredible Cover-up" by Dave MacPherson. You may also order this book from the  Shepherd's Chapel.

All verses quoted are from the King James Version of the Bible. Every word in this bible can be translated to its original meaning in the Hebrew, Chaldee or Greek with a Strong's Concordance. Every serious student of God's word should have this tool. It is simple to use and the information gleaned is priceless. When reading the King James Bible and you find a word you want to check in its original usage, just note the book, chapter, and were that word comes from and look in the Strong's Concordance. Look up the word as you would in a dictionary.

Where is the Rapture mentioned in the Bible?

The word "rapture" does not exist in the Bible. That is, it does not exist in the original manuscripts. So how do people come to the conclusion of the rapture? This word comes from the Latin version of the Bible known as the Vulgate. This translation into Latin was made possible by a man the Catholics deemed "ST. Jerome" who moved to Israel to learn the language and translate the New Test into Latin.

The word "caught up" is where this word "rapture" comes from. It means a rapid or turbulent change. A quick action. And that's exactly what it is. A change. There is little question or debate between pre and post tribulationists about what this word caught up means. The debate is when this "catching up" will take place.

I Thessalonians.

Chapter 4:13

4:13 "I would not have you to be ignorant brethren, concerning them which are asleep that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope."
4:14 For, if we believe even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him."
4:15 For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of GOD: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
 

Those  who believe in the rapture, usually site the above verses as their support for a pre-rapture. Are these verses being understood and read correctly?  I have my doubts.  Let's take a closer look into the following verses sited above..

Paul was educated in the  Hebrew language. He studied under the finest scholars of that time. He also spoke colloquial Greek, which is to say he spoke "street Greek" or slang.  You might hear to this time, "Figures of speech" which is an idiom or catch phrase. 

For example, have you ever heard of someone saying that there were so many faces, in the crowd it looked like a sea of faces? . Paul used these figures of speech because that was the language of the people he preached to.. How about this figure of speech.  There were so many bee's that they swarmed in clouds? When used In this context, you get a better understanding of what the person is trying to get across.

Let's take a look at Hebrews 12:1  Paul again writing:

HEBREWS 12:1 "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Knowing that Paul used the word cloud to express his description of a large group or mass of people, could it be possible that Paul used the same word to describe a mass gathering of people on the day of "catching up" instead of the white puffy clouds we are familiar with?

I Thessalonians 4:17

4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

The word cloud here and other places in the Greek and Hebrew will mean exactly what it says. A white puffy cloud drifting in the sky. You can do a concordance search on this word all day long and not find a darn thing different. But you must understand that Paul used this same white puffy cloud, to describe a mass gathering of people in the above verse just as he used it in Hebrews 12:1 .

Lets look at this word "air". This word in the Greek is "pneuma" - This word simply means breath. It is the same breath of life that God breathed through the nostrils of man, that gave them a living soul. It's the breath of life. This could also be know as the spirit we all have in us.

Please allow me to read this in the way that I feel Paul was trying to express:

Then we which are alive and remain shall be "changed in a twinkling of an eye" together with them in the "masses of fellow Christians", to meet the Lord in the spirit body, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Again, there is no doubt in my mind that we will be "raptured" or changed and it shall happen in a twinkling of an eye as Corinthians clearly states. However, when?

Why did Paul feel the need to write the 2nd book of Thessalonians?  Because he knew there was some confusion as to what was written about the second coming of Jesus. He wrote that 2nd book to let the church know that Christ's return would not happen until antichrist's reign was on earth.

2 THESSALONIANS 2:1 Now we beseech you brethren by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto Him,

Paul is saying; I'm here again to get a few things straight concerning the second coming of Christ and our gathering together to him.

2:2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by any letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

Don't be fooled or confused, and don't let  I Thessalonians confuse you.

2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.

What day is Paul talking about?  The Lord's day.  Paul is saying that the gathering back to Him shall not happen, until there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.  Who is the man of sin?  Who is this son of perdition?  It's Satan.  What does perdition mean?   It means sentenced to death.  There has only been one entity who has been sentenced to die and that is Satan.   Some scholars and people say that this is Judas.  But that won't fit.  You see, Judas was not sentenced to death.  He repented and later died from his wounds.

2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

So what is Paul saying?  He's saying don't let my first letter fool you.  Christ is not coming back until Satan is revealed sitting in the temple of God, claiming to be God.

2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

The subject here is Satan.  The word "Letteth" is a transitive verb. This means you cannot change the verb that's being used.  The subject and object here is Satan sitting in the temple of God.

"He who now let's", who is this? Who holds Satan now? Revelations 12:7   Michael the Arc Angel  holds satan. Satan's evil spirit is live and well on this earth today. But he is not here personally.   .

II Thessalonians

2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.
2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of satan with all power and signs and lying wonders.
2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.

What lie? Satan's lies and this belief of a pre-"any moment" rapture that is supposed to take place at any time. At any given second, we are to be plucked up and fly away into the clouds. And those who believe this are delusional.   They seem to spend more time listening to so called "educated men" then they do actually reading and studying the Word of God for themselves.  God wrote this Bible for you. Have you taken the time to understand and read it?
 
Let's take a look at I Corinthians 15:51

I Corinthians

15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

How many of you can count?  Do you know the seven trumpets of God?  Do you know we do have 7 trumps?  Well, we do..  It would seem that some people don't know how to count.  There is no doubt that we will be changed into the spirit body in the twinkling of an eye.  But the question I pose to you is when?   Well, Paul lets us know..  At the LAST trumpet...  So how can we be taken away in the clouds before the 7th trumpet sounds? If this is true and we are to be snatched up by God at any given moment, that would mean most of Revelation would have to be disregarded.

15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption,
15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

No where in God's Word does it say that the flesh can enter the into heaven.  Everyone must put of the flesh body and enter that new spiritual body.    And when we die, we do shed off the flesh. The flesh is sickly and can be damaged and broken.  It causes us to sin and fall.  That is why we put on the incorruptible bodies.  And when we have these bodies, death can not sting us nor does the grave have victory over us.    What is death? Or better said, who is death?  It's Satan. And Christ defeated him.

How many times have you heard some preachers say; they can't wait to be taken into the clouds in the sky?   They dance and sing songs about flying into the sky and into the clouds.  They give praise to a quick and great escape.  Shame on them that teach this! And shame on those who listen to this!  Become a strong Christian and study God's Word. YOU need to obtain the information on your own. Don't allow "man" to tell you "This is how it is or that's the way it is". Only you have to answer to God. Man can not intervene.

Ezekiel 13:19

13:19 And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?

Know any well known Ministries that seem to exploit God?  In other words, we are talking beggars in priests clothing.  Saying things; "Well dear brother and sisters, we can't continue with our work with out your money??   Gimme, gimme, gimme!   That's all they would seem to do.  Instead of getting into God's Word chapter by chapter and verse by verse.  They seem content on begging for your money then actually teaching the Word of God.  And when they finally do get around to teaching the Word, they teach one or two verses and the rest of the time they talk about "Uncle Joe from Tokyo".   Just be careful dear friends..

13:20  Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly.

God is against this fly-away doctrine.  How simple is that to see?  But still, you have some so-called "educated scholars" who write these books and survival guides on what to do in the event that a pre rapture has occurred. And some would like to capitalize on weak Christians who do follow this drivel.  I won't name names or point fingers.  Let's just stick to God's Word and let God sort things out.

A Bonus Study on the Rapture

The Christian world stands in danger of being utterly deceived and is not even aware of it.  The current pictures of who the antichrist is which are present in Christendom show a very distorted and imperfect understanding of the Bible's warnings in this area.  Popular notions deriving from the likes of Hal Lindsay, Left Behind, Jack Van Impe and other books and videos would lead you to believe that the antichrist is some obviously bewitched, deranged monster who any child would recognize as satanic.  

 The Bible, on the other hand, paints a picture of an antichrist with a very Christian face.  He will bless the children, favor religion, and be sympathetic with the plight of the oppressed.  He will be a believer in one God and not a universalist.  He will claim to be an anointed Christian.

 This is the plain meaning of these verses from the synoptic gospels:

• (Mat 24:5 KJV)  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

• (Mark 13:6 KJV)  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

• (Luke 21:8 KJV)  And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.

When three gospels trumpet such a unified warning, you would think every believer would be informed of it in the 2000 year history of Christianity.  But instead the warning is heard no where.  Perhaps some are misreading what Jesus is saying in these verses.  When He says that these many false prophets say in His name "I am Christ," perhaps many readers think Jesus is saying that they will claim to be Jesus himself.  But that is not what Jesus is saying.  Jesus did not speak English, so He did not say "I am Christ."  He spoke Aramaic, and a better translation of what He really said would be "I am anointed."  That is what the Greek means.  

So these false prophets who Jesus is warning about are not saying, "I am Jesus."  They are saying what most Christian teachers say, "I am anointed.  I have the Holy Spirit..."

Notice that Jesus says that these false prophets, who are Christians, will deceive MANY.  This is spoken in a last days setting.  If we are in the last days, as many Christians confess, and as the signs of the times indicate, then we should now be witnessing MANY false prophets who are deceiving MANY Christians.  MANY is not just a few.  MANY would be thousands and millions.

But if you take a poll of believing, born-again Christians, and ask them to name groups of millions of Christians who are now being deceived, they would say, "Well, I don't think there are any groups of thousands or millions that are being deceived, other than Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses, but they are not really Christians."

This is the most common response that you would receive.  So something is wrong.  Either Jesus made a mistake with His plain warnings recorded by Matthew, Mark, and Luke, or the Christian world is blinded to some gargantuan deception which is everywhere currently plaguing the Christian world.

If I have to choose between Jesus having made a mistake with His warning, or current Christendom's mistake in not properly seeing the current fulfillment of His words, I am going to bet on Jesus and not on the current Christian world professing His name.

If so, then who are these millions of currently deceived Christians and who are the ones deceiving them?  I think it is obvious.