Originally published in "The Lord's Coming Herald & Wesleyan Bible Prophecy Advocate," Summer 1990, Winter 1992
The Bible Rapture
Many good folk are confused about
the rapture of the Church these days, though the Bible itself is very clear.
Jesus said that both the resurrection of life and the resurrection of damnation
(Jn. 5:29, cf. with Acts 24:15) would occur together "at the last day" (Jn.
6:39-40, 44, 54;11:24). Since there is no measurable period of time beyond the
last day, Jesus statement can only mean that the rapture will take place at the
consummation in the end of this world, and not 1,007 years, 1003 & 1/2, or even
1,000 years before the end of time.
Paul says the same thing in I Cor. 15:51-52, 54, where he
locates the destruction of the final enemy, death, at the "last trump," which,
according to vss. 25-26, marks the end of Christ's mediatorial reign at the
consummation of this world. Such agrees with the seventh, or last, "trumpet" in
the book of Revelation, also ushering in the time of physical resurrection and
universal judgment: "And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and
the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give
reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy
name, small and great; and should destroy them that destroy the earth" (Rev.
11:18).
Here, clearly, is the consummation predicated in Matthew
25:31-46 and-Revelation 20:11-15. It is the time of retribution for both saint
and sinner alike, marking entrance into the eternal state of life everlasting in
the city of God for the one, and unending punishment in the lake of fire for the
other.
The cause for much modern confusion on the subject of
the rapture lies in the preconceptions and presuppositions which most bring into
the picture as they attempt to related their understanding of the rapture to the
overall context of predicted end-time events. The overall context of predicted
end-time events, therefore, is really the crucial matter of dispute. For
example, talk of a "mid" tribulation Rapture position, per se, only makes
sense to the one who presupposes the existence of a future seven year
tribulation time frame with which to start. Once that underlying notion has been
given up, however, the "mid" distinction itself becomes a non-starter, a logical
misnomer.
The so-called "rapture question," boils down most
fundamentally, then, to what may be termed "the future seven years with which
to start" question. Where does the Bible actually say that there is coming a
great tribulation time frame that must last for seven years? When you find such
a statement in the New Testament, please let me know.
Related Article Links
What If I Miss The Rapture?
Daniel's 70th Week: Future Great Tribulation Or Present Gospel Age?
The Messianic Question