Where is the Rapture explained in the Bible?

Answer 1

The Bible says that the rapture happens at the end of the world.

“Another parable put He forth unto them, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, ‘Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares?’ He said unto them, ‘An enemy hath done this.’ The servants said unto him, ‘Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.’’” (Matthew 13:24 – 29 KJV)

Now that is an interesting story, and it can be a little confusing; fortunately, because the disciples found this story a little confusing they also and asked Jesus to explain if further. Because our God is not a God of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33), Jesus explained what this parable meant.

“Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, ‘Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.’ He answered and said unto them, ‘He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.’” (Matthew 13:36 – 42 KJV)

A closer study of this parable would seem to completely disprove the theory of a secret rapture of the church. Let’s take a look at what Jesus had to say about the time of the end through this parable. There are two groups on the earth represented by the wheat (the good or the church) and the tares (the evil). The workers of the field (probably representing angels) are troubled by the tares that the evil one (the devil) has planted. They ask the farmer (Jesus) if they should gather the weeds now and purify the field (the world). The farmer (Jesus) said that it should not happen that way because some of the wheat may come up with the tares. He then declares, “Let both grow together until the harvest (the end of the world): and in the time of harvest (the end of the world) I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” I find it hard to be a proponent of a secret rapture for the church when Jesus said that both the good and the evil will grow together until the harvest (the end of the world). How can the church be raptured, leaving the evil on the earth, when Jesus said they will be together until the very end?

There is another issue raised by this parable. Many well intentioned Christians use the story in Matthew 24:40 & 41 and Luke 17:34 – 36 as key proof of a secret rapture for the church, but if we examine this story about the end times with the earlier story Jesus told about the end times in Matthew 13, we get a completely different picture from what most Christians interpret this story to mean. Let’s look at what Jesus said in these verses.

“Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.” (Matthew 24:40 – 42 KJV)

“I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.” (Luke 17:34 – 36 KJV)

Now I do not think that I am wrong in thinking that most Christians interpret these stories to mean that the man taken from the field, the woman that is taken while grinding, and the man taken in his sleep are the ones that belong to the group that is the church and are ruptured. This does not seem to be a plausible explanation however. Jesus gives an order for things to happen back in Matthew 13. “Gather ye together first the tares (the evil), and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat (the good or the church) into my barn.” Jesus clearly says that the evil will be gathered first. If we take this understanding and apply it to Matthew 24 and Luke 17, we get a very different understanding. The ones that are taken are not in the group we want to be in. The ones who are taken are the tares (the evil) that are being gathered to be burned, but the ones that are left are the wheat (the good) that are saved.

There is another metaphor that many well intentioned Christians use to support a secret rapture for the church; I feel that this too is an invalid interpretation of a story.

“But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” (Matthew 24:43 & 44 KJV)

“And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.” (Luke 12:39 & 40 KJV)

“For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” (1 Thessalonians 5:2 KJV)

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” (2 Peter 3:10 KJV)

“Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” (Revelation 16:15 KJV)

Here again, most Christians would attempt to say that this metaphor of a thief in the night is depicting a secret rapture for the church. I believe that most Christians have misinterpreted this too. First, Jesus explains what this metaphor means. He says that the meaning is not that the second coming is a secret but we do not know when it will occur. If we knew what day the Lord was to come, we would get ready the day before it, but since we do not know the day or the hour (Matthew 24:36), we must be ever ready! Just examine what Peter had to say of this metaphor in 2 Peter 3:10; he says that when the Lord comes as a thief,” the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therine shall be burned up.” Now I am not sure how all that could be kept a secret from anyone or how people would be able to live on the earth when it has passed away, burned up, and all the elements in it have melted.

Answer 2

Relevant Biblical verses
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 (Resurrection of the righteous dead in connection with the Rapture)
Matthew 24:29-31 (Jesus about the Resurrection-Rapture)
Ezekiel 34:12 (Prophet Ezekiel about the Resurrection-Rapture)
Revelation 20:4-5 (Resurrection taking place after the Tribulation)
Other Biblical sources
Luke 17
Matthew 24
John 14
Acts 2 and Acts 3
Peter 1
1 Corinthians 15
1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Thessalonians 5
2 Thessalonians 1 and 2 Thessalonians 2
Titus 2:13
Revelation 14:14-20 and Revelation 20:1-6

Answer 3

People above have explained where it speaks of it above.

Thing is, Rapture isn't exactly in the bible. It's sort of an interpretation that doesn't have much proof or truth to it. The second coming will be visible to 'every'one. It will not happen first invisibly, then a second one a thousand years later. That's not what the bible says. It will all happen at the same time. Those who are going to heaven will go. Those who are not, will be killed. They will not be left here to live for 1000 years, as the Rapture belief suggests.

Answer 4

Theres a Difference between when the Rapture occurs and when the Second Coming will be.

I understand the Rapture is mentioned in Thessilonians sp? and the Second Coming is in Revelation.

Several sites about both topics are mentioned on the web. It takes a lot of deep study to really understand it.

Hal Lindsey has written very good books on this topic. Check with Christian book stores, used book stores or on the web.

He wrote one on Revelation called Theres A New World Coming that explains verse by verse.

Answer 5

The rapture is explain in a couple places. The main one is Thessslonians Chapter 4 & 5. Begin in verse 13 in chapter 4 and read the first six or seven verses in chapter 5.

The second place is 1 Corinthians 15:52. This adds more information about what will take place.

Answer 6

The book of Revelations. There is nothing called "the rapture" though in the Bible, it is just a term given to describe the part where the remaining Christians on Earth are taken to Heaven, while everyone else appears to be left behind.

Answer 7

First of all, the word "rapture" is found in the Bible, if you have the Latin Vulgate produced by Jerome in the early 400s. The Vulgate was the main Bible of the medieval Western Church until the Reformation. It continues to this day as the primary Latin translation of the Roman Catholic Church. Yet, as we shall see later, it was Protestants who introduced the word "rapture" into the English language from the Latin raeptius. It was Jerome�s Vulgate that translated the original Greek verb harpaz� used by Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, which is usually translated into English with the phrase "caught up." The leading Greek Lexicon says that harpaz� means "snatch, seize, i.e., take suddenly and vehemently." This is the same meaning of the Latin word rapio "to seize, snatch, tear away." It should not be surprising to anyone, that an English word was developed from the Latin which we use today known as "rapture."While it is technically true that the word rapture does not appear in the English Bible, it does, nevertheless, appear in the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible. Certainly the notion of a rapture appears many times in the Bible. Translators of the Bible into English could have been justified had they translated "caught up" in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 with the English word "rapture." They also could have translated it by the word snatch. We could just as easily call the rapture "the great snatch."The word rapture was used in the English language at least a couple of hundred years before J. N. Darby came along .The Greek word harpaz� is used fourteen times in the New Testament. In addition to 1 Thessalonians 4:17, it is used at least three more times of one being raptured to heaven (2 Cor. 12:2, 4; Rev. 12:5). So there is no need to get upset over the use of the Latin based, English word "rapture." It is a biblical word.

Answer 8

Matthew 24:29,30
Acts 1:11. (Been seeing 1:11 on your clock?), "On a cloud".
1 Corinthians 15:52, "Last Trump"!
1 Thessalonians 4:16
2 Thessalonians 2:3
Revelation 1:13, "Like unto Son of Man", describes Jesus in Spirit!
Revelation 10:17, Mystery finished. Time of 7th Angels Trumpet!
Revelation 14:14, 15, Actual Rapture!

Answer 9

The interpretation of Revelation 20 is symbolic and sees the millennium not as an earthly golden age in which the world will be totally Christianized, but as the present period of Christ’s rule in heaven and on the earth through his Church. This was the view of the Protestant Reformers and is still the most common view among traditional Protestants, though not among most of the newer Evangelical and Fundamentalist groups.

But Scripture does not support the newer interpretation of Ev. and Fund. groups that has been floating around for only a 100 years; the idea of a thousand year span between the Second Coming and the Final Judgment.

Christ declares, "For the Son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay every man for what he has done" (Matt. 16:27), and "when the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. . . . And they [the goats] will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matt. 25:31–32, 46).

Answer 10

1 Thessalonians 4:13 and following.
1 Corinthians 15:50-52
John 14:1-3
Revelation 4:1-2

Answer 11

Revalations Chapter 7