Bible Answers

The ‘Rapture of the Church’ is a phrase that is commonly heard in Christian circles, and refers to a belief that there will shortly be an event of enormous significance to the Christian: namely, when Jesus Christ snatches his Church out of this world.

When the dead are raised, it is claimed that the living Christians will be ‘caught up’ (raptured) together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord. Christians differ as to when this will take place. Many books have been written in recent years on the subject, and each one expresses different opinions.

One popular author, Hal Lindsay, in his book "The Rapture" states on p32,

"The truth of the matter is that neither a post-, mid-, or pre- Tribulationist can point to any single verse that clearly says the rapture will occur before, in the middle of, or after the Tribulation.

But all refer to one short passage to be found in the Bible, for it is freely admitted that there is only one passage that supports the idea. It is found in 1 Thessalonians 4, verses 16 and 17. Now if there is only one passage, then one begins to wonder why there is so little agreement on the subject! The passage states:

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ will rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

Of course, it’s obvious that the word ‘rapture’ is not there, but it is derived from the Latin phrase for ‘caught up’. [Rapere, raptum: to snatch away.]

One view of this event is that it takes place before the tribulation, i.e., before the whole period of trouble and judgments on the world take place. These troubles are frequently attributed to an Antichrist, and also, in almost opposite direction, thought by some to be the direct hand of God in revenging the world for its sin.

So this view, termed ‘Pretribulationist’ is that the ‘Church’ is whisked away to heaven, and so avoids this time of tribulation. The chart below summarises this viewpoint, including the option of the Millenial Kingdom being in heaven or on earth.

Another view says that this is not so, and that the rapture takes place after the first 3½ years of the tribulation, called ‘mid-tribulationist’, as shown below.