It is a separate or secret event which will happen before Jesus second Coming at the end of the age.
Some Christians don't believe in the Rapture and Some believe that the Rapture will be BEFORE Tribulation, others believe that the Rapture will occur DURING Tribulation and still others believe that the Rapture will occur AFTER Tribulation.
In this Article , we are going to make a little research including evidences from Bible to know if The Rapture theory is Myth or a Fact . we will represent most claims and find answers for each in a very simple way from scriptures.
1) "One is taken along and one left." Mat 24:40
Some Christians just take one scripture to prove their point and not looking to the whole true meaning of passage. Let's read the whole paragraph together.
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.Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. (Mat 24:37-42)
Did you catch that? It was all the wicked who were eating, drinking, and marrying that were "TAKEN AWAY," not Noah and his family! ......... Clearly the good are retained and kept, but the bad are severed and taken away! If ever there is to be a rapture, it will be A RAPTURE OF THE WICKED, not of the saints!
Now a few Scriptures to show that it was always God's intention that the righteous remain on this earth:
"The righteous shall never be REMOVED [or raptured]; and the wicked shall not inherit the earth" (Prove. 10:30).
"The righteous shall be recompensed in the EARTH [not raptured to heaven]" (Prov. 11:31).
"Take AWAY the dross from the silver ... Take AWAY the wicked from the King ..." (Prov. 25:4-5).
"They [the wicked] are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth AWAY " (Job 21:18).
"... take hold of the ends of the earth that the wicked might be shaken OUT of it" (John 38:13).
******************************
2) Word " Immediately " in Mat 24:29
Let's Study this word "Immediately" in the light of Mark and Matthew Gospels. Look at the two sets of verses from these chapters to see they are describing the SAME SCENE !!
What proves that Matthew 24 is neither for the Gentile Christians ONLY nor for JEWISH Christians ONLY , but is the gathering of the entire body of Christ in heaven and on earth at His coming is the wording in Mark 13:27
"and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the EARTH to the uttermost part of HEAVEN"
As we can see from two sets that they describe the SAME SCENE which is Jesus Second Coming.....If we are to believe the ones He gathers from heaven are a previously raptured Church seven years before His return at the end the age, then He gave no description of this rapture occurring in the four gospels in spite of its description of the seven year tribulation period. The mention of rapture is nowhere to be found. It is non-existent.
Furthermore, there are live saints in the earth who gathered as in Mark 13:27, SO in which case there would have to be another rapture in which the saints are raised or changed at His coming for they are gathered in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 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 shall rise first:
17 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. (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17)
The trumpet in Matthew 24:30-31 (look at table) matches that of verse 16 in 1 Thessalonians 4 where the dead in Christ shall rise so if This is a Rapture as some believers claim then this means that the Deads shall rise two Times one in the "First Rapture" and the second will be in "Second Coming" at the end of the age !!!......so word "Immediately" in Mat 24:29 doesn't make sense for those who believe that there is a secret or separate Rapture which will occur AFTER Tribulation before second coming at the end of age.
******************************
3) "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection" (Rev 20:5-6)
Some Christians believe that There are even TWO Resurrections and that There are even TWO deaths for those that do not choose to believe in Jesus relying their claim on the following scripture
"But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." (Revelation 20:5-6)
Here The first resurrection doesn't mean A RAPTURE BUT it is experienced at the moment of salvation when we receive our brand new eternal soul. We become spiritually alive in salvation when God spiritually breathes on our spiritually dead soul, so that we are given a new soul. The Bible speaks of this as a resurrection (Colossians 3:1 and Revelation 20:5-6) or as being born again (John 3:3-8) or as having been regenerated (Titus 3:5)
******************************
4) Period of Thousand Years
" He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time." (Rev 20:2-3)
John sees the vision of an angel who seizes satan and binds him for a period of a thousand years. Some believers generally call this period of a thousand years the "millennium" . The "millennium" is a harbinger of the end of the world, and the theories of when the "rapture" will occur center around this period of time.
We should also note that the "thousand years" language is part of apocalyptic literature and should not be interpreted literally.
For example,
In Psalm 50:10, we see the cattle on a "thousand hills" . The word "thousand" here obviously means a lot of hills.
In Dan. 7:10, a "thousand thousands" served him . Again, "thousand" means a lot.
In 2 Peter 3:8, "with God one day is a "thousand" years and a "thousand" years is one day."
SO...."Thousand" is Symbolic for a Long Time. It is NOT to be taken Literally.
******************************
CORRELATION OF SIX PROPHECIES ON RETURN OF CHRIST
If we study the following table for a few minutes we are struck with the similarity of events described.
I think it should becoming clear by now that not only is there no evidence in the letter to support a secret rapture prior to Christ's return to His saints, but there is also no evidence to support a Scriptural division among the saints that would call for such a rapture either.
So what is the bottom line of all this? I think it is quite simple. It's observed that the four writers of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John did not put the exact same information in their accounts of our Lord's Crucifixion. But, that does by no means prove that their accounts are, (1) False, (2) Contradictory, or (3) Four different accounts of FOUR DIFFERENT CRUCIFIXIONS!. The chart above is likewise, not six accounts of SIX DIFFERENT COMINGS OF OUR LORD! Nor five, nor four, nor three, nor TWO! Jesus Christ returns a second time to rule with ALL His saints ONCE!
Clearly the Gentile saints are going to be WITH the Jewish saints in the Kingdom of Heaven!
Jesus Christ Himself foretold of the one union of these two different peoples:
Since our Lord says that there is "ONE flock and ONE Shepherd" who is man to SPLIT THEM INTO TWO ??!.
Finally, We are brothers and sisters in Christ , Some believe in the rapture and others don't. And as we all come from Different Christian Denominations and may have Varying Beliefs, but we share one POWERFUL Common Bond which should have us Overcome these Little Differences and that is our Love for and Belief in Jesus Christ, which makes us Brothers and Sisters in HIS Family.
"Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!" The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints! Amen! (Rev. 22:20-21).
