What are all the Christians going to do If the "rapture" never comes?

Question

Don't tell me that because its "in the Bible" its coming. Answer from your own heart. Answer from your personal relationship with God or Chirst, not from religious reterick.

Answer 1

I don't know what I would do in that situation. If it happens in a hundred years from now, then the question is irrelevant anyway, because I will have become a memory- at least the human aspect will.

It may or may not happen in my lifetime. The reality is that no one knows when it will come. Only God knows that.

I have trouble with your question. I mean, it's a legitimate one, and it's actually a good one (whatever 'good' means). In other words, it walks deeper into the woods than most questions do. It's not just a scratch the surface type of inquiry. It takes thinking, and it demands honest reflection.

But I think that it is flawed in a way, because the rapture may happen during our lifetimes, or after. If it is the former, then so be it. But if it is the latter, then the question is immaterial to our generation, because we will be dead, and will have ascended to heaven before the rapture occurs.

So if we suddenly panic one day because the rapture hasn't happened, it doesn't really make a lot of sense to agonized over it- for in the first place, no one knows when it will come. We will just have to live another day.

Now if we DID know that the rapture was supposed to come within a certain time frame or decade, and it did not come during the forecasted time scale, then I think that a lot of us would be disconcerted and dismayed. Personally, I would be scared. I would be nervous. I would wonder why. It would wreak havoc on my peace of mind.

It's really hard to say or prognosticate what I would do in that given situation. Some contingencies are hard to imagine. But as far as the emotional reaction, I am sure that it would affect me very negatively. I would feel sheer anxiety. A swarm of questions would burn inside my head. I would wonder why God postponed it. I would wonder "well, if Jesus isn't coming back now, then when will he?" I would be assailed with all kinds of doubts and cumbersome questions, and few answers would be available. On that premise, I think that I would be very afraid. That is the truth.

Answer 2

Okay, so let's not use the Bible. What else is fair game? There are thousands upon thousands of personal testimonies of Christians who believe there is going to be a rapture. And I know that belief does not make it so; and that works both ways, for those who believe and for those who don't! However, is there no other written testimonies in the ancient writings that testify of the coming of a Messiah, especially in the Jewish writings? In fact, many other religions as well offer a faint glimmer of hope in the coming of a Messiah. Why did the three wise men who were from the East, some refer to them as Magi, which was a Persian name for "wise" man; someone who had studied the ancient sacred writings of many different religions, but not necessarily the Jewish sacred writings; why did they follow the star? Or did they? Is the Bible the only ancient writing to speak of the basic tenets of the Judeo-Christian tradition? IF those Christians who assert there is going to be a "rapture" are wrong, what can they do, but admit they were wrong? BUT, IF, on the other hand, they are right, and all of a sudden one day millions of people vanish from off the face of the earth, then will those who assert there will be no rapture also be willing to admit they were wrong? Before you discount the Bible, tell me upon what other sacred writing, if any, you may base your opinion? And if you do so, which of the other sacred writings have you read? Any? Or are we just going to assert there will be no rapture just for the hey of it? What about my own personal convictions based upon not only the Bible but the Rig-Veda and Upanishads of Hinduism; or the Gospel of Buddha of Buddhism; or the Qu'ran of Islam; or the Boook of Mormon; or the Talmud; or the Septuagint; or the writings of Flavius Josephus; or those thousands of writings by the early church fathers? If you take the time to read some of these other sacred writings and compare them to the Bible of the Judeo-Christian tradition, it is amazing how much more "inspired" the Bible seems. The Pharisees of the time period of the second temple believed that all times for the coming of a Messiah are past, yet about 400 years later, Jesus of Nazareth appeared on the scene, and He as well as thousands of His disciples asserted that HE was the long-prophesied Messiah of the ancient Scriptures. The more important question does not concern whether the rapture will occur or not; but whether you or anyone else reading this has met Jesus Christ and decided what you are going to do about His claims and the claims others have made about Him. For that decision will decide your final destiny, rapture or not! Even some of these other sacred writings avow that the Messiah, the Saviour of the world, would come from the Jewish nation. There IS more evidence than only that which is contained in the Holy Bible of Christendom. And it is so easily accessible right here on the internet! All you need to do is be willing to search for the answers! Further information concerning the claims I have made in this response can be obtained by emailing me.

Answer 3

Rapture... the end of the world...

According to this doctrine, when Christ returns, all of the elect who have died will be raised and transformed into a glorious state, along with the living elect, and then be caught up to be with Christ. The key text referring to the rapture is 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17, which states, "For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord."

Virtually all Christians hold that the Second Coming will be preceded by a time of great trouble and persecution of God’s people (2 Thess. 2:1–4). This period is often called the tribulation. Until the nineteenth century, all Christians agreed that the rapture—though it was not called that at the time—would occur immediately before the Second Coming, at the close of the period of persecution. This position is today called the "post-tribulational" view because it says the rapture will come after the tribulation.

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MY opinion:

People have been proclaiming that they are living through the "end times" for waaaaay too long. There's always some unhygenic street-corner evangelist crackpot sputtering about how the world is going to end and that all the heathens better get the Lord harrassed into their unsaved souls.

It STILL hasn't happened. The sky isn't falling. The oceans aren't boiling. Pigs are most definitely NOT sprouting wings and making like the birdies. They've been barking about it for years and years and years and they'll STILL be barking for years to come.

It's a scare tactic, a convenient freak- the- everliving- crap- out- of- folks magic wand that can be waved about in dramatic fashion any time the religious collective feels the soul harvest is running dry.

Trust me... go about your life. Ok, I'm sure you will anyhow considering there's really no alternative option (besides suicide, and I've heard God frowns upon that), but just make sure to keep in mind: STAY CALM. DON'T PANIC. REMEMBER YOUR TOWEL.

Answer 4

The "two women working in the field, and one disappears" thing has been miscontrued. According to the book of Enoch, its the unbeliever who disappears, not the believer. The "women in the field" and the "being taken up" are two completely separate things. We are to be "taken up", right before the final wrath, NOT before the tribulation starts, He comes back for us once, not twice, which is what would have to happen if there were a rapture. It says He will save us from the wrath, but nothing at all about the tribulation.

Answer 5

Christians have been expecting to be raptured and not been raptured for two millenia and every new generation thinks they'll be the one. They have failed to understand the Book of Daniel or they would realize they can't be raptured until the Anti-disestablishmentarian appears. I am destined to be the father of the AD and Rafaela Zanella is destined to be the mother. God has revealed that until Rafaela and I have our baby together no Christians will be raptured. So all you Christians need to write the 2006 Miss Universe and urge her to have my baby without delay so you can be raptured. Oh, and before I forget, God also says you can't be raptured until you sign your property and bank accounts over to me for safe keeping for the babies Rafaela and I are going to have. The sooner you get on that, the sooner you get raptured.

Answer 6

Well, the rapture WILL come. If it doesn't come though, before people my age die or before my own death, then obviously I will be living as a Christian until that point and go to Heaven anyway, so then its just up to the generations after me to wait patiently for Him.

Answer 7

Dear Anne A,

My personal relationship with God is based on what God has taught me through His Word. His Word teaches us that we are always supposed to live in light of Christ's return. So if Christ does not return in my lifetime and i'm not raptured out- then i will die believing that Jesus is still waiting for more people to come to repentance. i believe He is faithful to fulfill all of the word of God- so with the same confidence that i have that because i've placed my faith in Christ- i will spend an eterntiy with Him- i am confident that He will rapture out the church and return as He has promised. He has clearly stated in His word that no one knows the hour or the day- but that we are to live ready for His return at any moment, so if he doesn't return in my lifetime, i will not have wasted my life focusing on eternal things and living in a way to please Him.

Hope that helps,

Nickster

Answer 8

Well, if the "rapture" doesn't come then they will do their best to live as well as they can until the day they do leave this life...
They will love and support one another and those whom they come into contact with; they'll continue to share the gospel. There are a lot of things that they would have/be able to do.


Question: What will you do if the rapture occurs in your lifetime?

Answer 9

there is no such word in the bible. the angels of the Lord will come and gather his own from all 4 corners of the world. nothing was said about a rapture, that is man's wording, not God's. we will just simply vanish, our spirit that is. We will be changed into our glorified bodies and be gone from this sinful world.

Answer 10

Funny, but the concept of "the rapture" is not in the bible...

I suspect that if the end of the world doesn't come, then humans will find a way to make the world end on their own.

... or maybe it's just been us all along?