Are You Rapture Ready?

I visited a web site the other day called “Rapture Ready.” It is a site devoted to its author’s passion - the rapture. It even comes complete with an index giving the likelihood that the rapture is imminent. By the way, index numbers are high right now. The present reading is 166. The record was set on September 24, 2001 when the index peaked at 182! Of course, you can make a donation of money (not tax deductible) at the website.

So, are you rapture ready? Probably the best way to be prepared for the rapture is to find out what the Bible says about it. Use a concordance, perhaps the one in the back of your Bible and look up the word rapture. Find all the scriptures that use the word and study them carefully.

To make it easier for you, especially since the little concordances in the backs of Bibles are not very complete, I will list the verses for you. Here they are.

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Now that the list is complete…, well, I was going to suggest that we study the passages, but it appears there are no verses that use the word rapture. In fact, the word is not even in the word of God. How can we be rapture ready if the Bible does not even use the word?

The idea of the rapture is that Jesus will return and “catch away” all Christians from the earth leaving behind confusion and a seven-year tribulation. You may recall the bumper sticker declaring, “In case of rapture this car will be unmanned.” Another one jokingly said, “In case of rapture, can I have your car?”

The Bible, in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, does speak of Christians being “caught up” in the clouds with the dead who are raised and “so we shall ever be with the Lord.” The rapture is supposed to be a sudden event that is secret except for the fact that lots of folks have disappeared. No warning. Just “poof” and they’re all gone.

The problem with using this text to prove the rapture is verse 16. “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” The archangel is going to shout and the trumpet of God is going to sound, yet no one is going to hear them? Keep in mind that Paul is trying to help the Thessalonians understand that their brethren who have died did not miss heaven. They will be raised, then those who are alive will be changed, and all will be caught up and be with the Lord forever. He is addressing only what will happen to Christians. To get the full picture, we must read other passages.

“Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” (John 5:28,29). Observe that the good and the evil are raised at the same time! Jesus said that “all who are in the graves” will come forth. Not just the good folks - all of them. This passage presents great problems for the teaching of the rapture in which only the good are raised. Remember, the word rapture does not appear in the scriptures.

Combine John 5:28, 29 with Matthew 25 and we get even more of the picture. John 5 tells us that the good and bad are raised at the same time and go either to the resurrection of life or the resurrection of condemnation. Matthew 25:31-46 says that Jesus is coming and will gather all nations before him. Jesus will separate the people into two groups, those who have done good and those who have done bad. According to verse 46, the good receive “eternal life” and the wicked receive “everlasting punishment.” Once again, this presents serious problems for the idea of a rapture that includes only the good folks.

Someone may say, “What about Matthew 24 where it says that one will be taken and one will be left?” Let’s examine the passage. The context is Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem which occurred in 70 AD. He is warning the faithful to be prepared for the destruction that is coming as it did in the days of Noah. In verses 37-41 He says, “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.” The “coming” of the Son of Man is a phrase used many times in the Bible to describe God’s “coming” in judgment on a nation. The nation under consideration here is Israel, specifically Jerusalem. Notice that in the days of Noah the flood came and “took them all away.” In the same way two men will be in a field and one will be “taken,” two women at a grindstone and one will be “taken.” Those who are taken are taken in destruction just like those in Noah’s day were taken in destruction. The “taking” is not the rapture.

The rapture is not Biblical. The idea does not fit with clear teaching in God’s word. As always, you should abandon the teachings of men and follow only what God says in His word.

Are you rapture ready? Don’t worry about the rapture. It won’t catch you or anyone else off guard. However, the second coming of Jesus might. You need to be prepared for that. There is no second chance as taught by many rapture theorists. Your opportunity to prepare is now. Hebrews 9:27 says, “...it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” Can I help you be prepared? Send me an email letting me know how I can help.