rapture and the bible?

Question

where in the bible does it say anything about the rapture? or is this just a man-made event?

Answer 1

The rapture is found specifically in I Thessalonians 4:17, which says that we will be "caught up." The Greek word is "harpazo." The Latin word that was translated from the Greek is "rapere" (or variants such as rapiemur), which means to seize violently. Further, the rapture is clearly described in several other passages, 1 Corinthians 15:51-57, II Corinthians 12:2-4, and John 14:1-3 for starters.

Jesus comes back for His church, His "bride" in I Thessalonians 4:17. He meets them "in the air." He later returns to the earth, setting foot on the Mount of Olives, where an earthquake will occur. "And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south." (Zechariah 14:4)

He will then begin to rule and reign over the earth, along with the saints that followed Him from heaven. "Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied about these people when he said, "Look! The Lord has come with countless thousands of his holy ones. He will execute judgment on all people and convict everyone of all the ungodly things that they have done in such an ungodly way, including all the harsh things that these ungodly sinners have said about him." (Jude 1:14-15)

Now, let's discuss the etymology of the word "rapture." Allow me to quote I Thessalonians 4:17 from the Latin Vulgate so that you can see it:

"deinde nos qui vivimus qui relinquimur simul "rapiemur" c u m illis in nubibus obviam Domino in aera et sic semper c u m Domino erimus"

And in the Greek:

"ἔπειτα ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες οἱ περιλειπόμενοι ἅμα σὺν αὐτοῖς "ἁρπαγησόμεθα" ἐν νεφέλαις εἰς ἀπάντησιν τοῦ κυρίου εἰς ἀέρα· καὶ οὕτως πάντοτε σὺν κυρίῳ ἐσόμεθα."

This proves that the word (and the concept of a) rapture is Scriptural. Rapture first, Second Coming later.

Answer 2

Most people here are citing the passage in 1 Thessalonians as support for the rapture, but this passage only states that Jesus will come back for us, and take us to be with Him eternally. It does not describe the full "rapture" scenario where the nonchristians are left behind in a world about to be plunged into chaos as God's judgment.

For this piece of the puzzle, most people cite Matthew 24:40-41, which says, "Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left."

The problem with this interpretation of the Matthew passage is that it is taken out of context. Verses 37-41 say:

"As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left."

If you read carefully, you will see that Jesus is saying in the days of Noah, the *sinners* were taken away. Then He says that the second coming will be the same way. Therefore, this passage states that when He returns, the *sinners* will be taken away--i.e., destroyed as the sinners were destroyed in the days of Noah. This passage does not support the rapture; it has nothing to do with the rapture. It is talking about God's judgment.

While rapture theology does not necessarily go directly against the Bible, it does not have sound Biblical support either. The doctrine was devised in the 1800s by John Nelson Darby as part of premillenial theology, which is itself a recent innovation.

What is still more troubling is that rapture theology has done significant damage to the Church today by creating a disproportionate sense of urgency, leading many churches to neglect sound doctrine so they can concentrate on getting as many people "saved" as possible before Jesus comes back.

This doctrine of the rapture is bad news. Best to stay away from it.

Answer 3

Some people say that when the bibles states that two will be in the field and one will be taken etc. what that is really referring to is when satan is here pretending to be Christ that one out of two will be fooled by him. Also 1st Thessalonians words "in the air" i.e. breath of life. When Christ comes back we are all given the breath of life into our spiritual bodies. And the term in the clouds means an innumerable amount of people. The author of this writing has used the term " cloud/s" in other parts of the bible ,so we know it's true. Look up the word cloud/s in the Strong's concordance under that word and you will see that it was used by that author more than once. I believe there is no rapture ,but if I am wrong then it would only make sense to me that it would have to be after the 2nd advent. Check it out! I would like to know what the catholic church's official stand on this issue is. Please let me know with some documentation. thanx in advance.

Answer 4

You've gotten some really great answers; however, there's much, much more to our belief in the Rapture than the 1 Thes. citation some gave you. Actually, the list of Rapture references are too numerous to discuss here. There are also a number of extra-Biblical references to the Rapture that were written by the early church Fathers (so much for the argument that the Rapture concept was cooked up in the late 1800's!).

If you REALLY want to research this issue, I recommend this scholarly web site: www.pre-trib.org Read the "Article Archive."

Answer 5

There were already raptures in the Bible. The concept isn't new, but the word is the most used one these Last Days.

I noticed that some of you answers refer to 1 Thessalonians. The one that you might hear about the most is the one that is found in 2 Thessalonians 2. There is something holding back a spirit, it is said to be the church. The people, not the buildings.

It all given to interpretation. So lean on the Holy Spirit to bring to you the power of interpretation, so that you can know what must happen, and perhaps bring many to the kingdom.

Answer 6

The term rapture is new... forget it. This is what is meant by the term rapture... the coming of the Lord!

1 Thess. 4:13-18

13Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore encourage each other with these words.

Answer 7

its called the catchin away of gods ppl or also in revelations u gotta just put 2 and 2 together, when the saints without number suddenly appear before his throne, this is what we call the rapture but he actual word is not in the bible

Answer 8

You've been given most of the scriptures and many of the arguments, for and against. It's clear that the problem lies in interpretation. But there is undoubtedly biblical evidence for expecting Christ to appear visibly, in the clouds, with the angels, in great glory: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days... He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." (Mat 24:29-31) Woe betide anyone who is not then found with the faith that Christ is looking for (Luke 18:8).

So it's wrong to call it "a man-made event", though there's plenty of man-made interpretations doing the rounds!

Answer 9

1 Thessalonians 4:17 says: "Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air."

This sudden departure is what has been refered to commonly as the "rapture".

While the word "rapture" does not appear in the bible, neither does the word "toilet", but I'm pretty sure they exist too.


God loves you and so do I.

Answer 10

1st Thessalonians 4:16-18

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.............

The word "rapture" means "to be transported from place to place as to heaven" according to the dictionary.

The word "rapture" is probably just a word that wasn't in the vocabulary of the Aramaic Language/Greek Language of the Bible, so therefore it wasn't translated
into English. Some languages don't have a "1 word translation" for something. In English we have the word, in Greek it just may be "caught up in the clouds"...