What is the rapture of the church?
"Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed." &mash;1 Corinthians 15:51-52
The "rapture of the church" is a reference to events that will happen sometime in the future, when God "snatches away" all believers, both alive and dead, in order to take them somewhere safe, as He makes way for His righteous judgment to pour upon the earth. While the word "rapture" isn't used in English translations of the Bible, this concept that the church will be "carried off" is very clear in Scripture, primarily in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-54.
What will happen during the rapture?
"The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord." —1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
The Bible tells us that God will bring all the believers who have died to be with Him and give them glorified bodies. Living believers will also be taken and given glorified bodies. This will be an instantaneous transformation, making us ready for eternal life (1 John 3:2). These believers will then wait for Jesus' return to the earth and rule with Him in the Millennial Kingdom.
Does the Old Testament predict the rapture?
No, the doctrine of the rapture of the church wasn't taught in the Old Testament. Rather, this was a new revelation that the apostle Paul was given, which is why he calls it a "mystery" that has been revealed (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).
When will the rapture happen?
The timing of the rapture of the church is one of those much-debated topics in the Bible prophecy community. The debate mostly centers around when the church will be "taken up" in relation to two end-times events outlined in Scripture: the tribulation and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
We must be careful not to "date-set." Many people compare the prophecy in the Bible with current events and claim to know when the rapture will occur. Matthew 24:36-44 says clearly that we will NOT know when Jesus returns. Our job is to follow Jesus and share the gospel—not predict when the rapture will happen.
End Times Terminology
Real quick, the tribulation is a period of seven years that will be filled with various divine judgments, celestial disturbances, natural disasters, and many plagues (see Revelation 6 through 16). The Second Coming of Jesus is described in Zechariah 14:3-4 and Revelation 19:11-16 and is when Jesus descends to the Mount of Olives, resulting in a great earthquake, which will be followed by His defeat of the Antichrist, destruction of all evil, and establishing His millennial kingdom.
There are four primary interpretations about the rapture: pre-tribulationism, mid-tribulationism, pre-wrath, and post-tribulationism. There's lots of information out there to explain these views in detail, and we encourage you to investigate those if you're interested so you can make an informed decision about what you believe. (End-times prophecy and interpretation is a deep hole of research!)
The Bible also describes the rapture and Second Coming as similar but separate events. Both involve Jesus coming back toward earth. Both occur during the end-times. But it's important that we recognize them as different events. The rapture is the return of Christ in the clouds to remove all believers from the earth before the time of God's wrath. The Second Coming is the return of Christ to the earth to bring the tribulation to an end and to defeat the Antichrist and his evil world empire.
What We Believe
We at 412teens and Got Questions Ministries believe in a pre-tribulational rapture. God said His followers will not experience His wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:10). We believe the entire tribulation is God's wrath on the world, so those who are Christians at the time of the rapture will not experience the tribulation (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). At the end of the tribulation, Jesus will return, destroy His enemies, and save those who learned to follow Him during the tribulation. That's His Second Coming (Matthew 24:4-30).
Regardless of what "side" believers fall upon in these debates, the rapture, the tribulation, and the second coming are not to be issues that divide the church or cause heated arguments. Rather, all believers ought to celebrate this glorious event that, according to Scripture, should be one every believing heart longs for.
The Bible does say we should look forward to that time. We'll finally be free from our sinful temptations. We'll have entered God's eternal presence. There's no need to fight over who's "right" or "wrong" about the timeline. God never intended for this knowledge to cause strife. Instead, we ought to comfort one another in hope and "encourage one another with these words" (1 Thessalonians 4:18).
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TL;DR
The "rapture of the church" is a reference to events that will happen sometime in the future, when God "snatches away" all believers, both alive and dead, in order to take them somewhere safe, as He makes way for His righteous judgment to pour upon the earth. While the word "rapture" isn't used in English translations of the Bible, this concept that the church will be "carried off" is very clear in Scripture, primarily in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-54.
Writer/Editor: Catiana (Cat)
Cat is the web producer and editor of 412teens.org. She is known as "412teens" on the 412teens Discord. She loves audiobooks, feeding the people she cares about, and using Christmas lights to illuminate a room. When Cat is not cooking, gardening, or practicing creativity, she enjoys spending time with her two adult kids, six socially-awkward cats, and her amazing friend-amily.
