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Rapture ready news: Many people have been interested in what would happen in the final days over the years, and Christian beliefs concerning those times heavily emphasize the rapture.
This article entails what the scripture says about rapture and what is it exactly?
An end-time event in which all Christian believers who are living, along with resurrected believers, would rise “in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air” is what some Christians, especially those of American evangelicalism, refer to as the “Rapture.”
It is derived from the Latin word “rapio,” which is used in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 for the two words “caught up.”
(1 Thessalonians 4:17 KJV) says; “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord”.
The majority of Christian denominations reject rapture doctrine and interpret the aerial gathering in 1 Thessalonians 4 differently.
Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Lutherans, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, the United Church of Christ, most Methodist and Reformed Christians, Unity Church, Latter-day Saints, etc, do not use rapture as a distinct theological phrase, nor do they agree to the premillennial dispensational beliefs connected with its use.
Instead, these groups often define rapture as the elect meeting with Christ in Heaven upon Christ’s second coming and reject the notion that a huge segment of mankind would be left behind on earth for an extended tribulation period.
What the Bible says on the Rapture
In order to bring His followers to be with Him, Jesus said He will come back to Earth. He said in the account of (John 14:1-3 KJV);
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also”.
Did Jesus intend for His second coming to be a covert “rapture” of His followers from Earth, leaving those who were left behind to wonder what became of their raptured friends and relatives?
Those who believe in the rapture hold this viewpoint. Jesus doesn’t specify whether He will return in stealth or in another way in these lines.
However, other passages in the Bible make clear what will transpire when Jesus arrives.
The disciples saw Jesus ascend into the sky after His resurrection and then ascend back to heaven. The Scripture says in (Acts 1:9-11 KJV);
“And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven”.
The verses in question emphasize two ideas. First of all, the Jesus who makes a second trip to the planet is the same Jesus who first visited and afterwards returned to heaven after His resurrection.
Second, He will come back to Earth “in same fashion” as He left for heaven. How did Jesus enter heaven after He was raised from the dead? Did He travel covertly?
No. The disciples saw Him literally ascend into the air before a cloud obscured His appearance. Jesus will therefore return to earth in the same manner—not covertly—as stated in these scriptures.
Paul also says that the Lord’s return will be like a thief in the night in 1 Thessalonians 5:1–8. The time and date are unknown. There are a few signals of the End Times, nevertheless, that we can all recognize.
Events like earthquakes and plagues, conflicts and wars between nations, and persecution of Christians are all indicators that the Rapture is about to occur.
Are you aware that the Bible describes a time when Jesus will return to receive His followers? Although the word “rapture” is not used in the Bible, Jesus will return and take us to dwell with Him in heaven.
The rapture is happening now. Look into what God says is necessary to join Him for all of eternity if you don’t want to be left behind.
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