Scriptural
Studies
What is the Rapture?
There is no such thing in the Scriptures!
Nab B. July 27, 2022
"We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [precede] them which are asleep. 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: 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." (1 Thess 4:15-18)
"Behold, I shew 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 trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." (1 Cor 15:51-53)
First, let me say that the two passages above have nothing to do with a so-called RAPTURE!
So, what are they about? Are you ready for the big reveal?
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They Are About The
Bodily Resurrection
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Scores of Christians and websites are obsessed with the Rapture! The Greek word translated rapture simply means to gather or to catch up. This was never a catchphrase in the Bible. Being "caught up with Christ" simply describes all believers (living and dead) being gathered to Him when the resurrection of the dead occurs. (1 Thess 4:15-18)
Most Christians believe that before the so-called great tribulation strikes, Christ will rapture his Church so they don’t suffer with the rest!
About The Pre-Trib Doctrine!
This doctrine was made popular by John Nelson Darby, a dispensationalist British priest in the 1830s. Obsessed with the doctrine, the American evangelical Christians preached it through sermons and books and later in movies!
Can You Avoid The Great Tribulation?
It all depends on what it means to you! But it really doesn't matter what we think; it's what God and Christ think!
The teaching of a pre-trib rapture seems to appeal mostly to Christians who want nothing to disturb their comfortable carnal lives. Contrast this with the saints (true believers) who “loved not their lives even unto death.” (Rev 12:11)
The scriptures are silent about Christians being raptured! The truth of the scriptures reveals that ALL true Christians MUST go through the washing and cleansing as a result of going through the spiritual great tribulation. Why is that? For one crucial reason as seen in these verses:
"Coming out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." (Rev 7:14)
Did you catch that?!
EVERYONE must go through this cleansing which is called the great tribulation to be "Washed...in the blood of the Lamb." Jesus even said, “In the world, ye shall have tribulation.” (John 16:33) And "That we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." (Acts 14:22)
I hope this has piqued your interest to know the real meaning of the great tribulation! And it's not what the churches teach. For more explanation, click and read my article ➤ The Meaning of the Great Tribulation. This article shows whether the Great Tribulation is a worldwide future event or a spiritual condition; whether it happened, happening, or will happen.
Briefly (until you read the Great Tribulation article), our walk with Christ is our great tribulation. it’s the predicted outcome when the kingdom of light collides with the kingdom of darkness; the enmity or the hostility between the two seeds spoken about in Genesis 3:15.
If one is not engaged in this spiritual great tribulation for Christ's sake and his gospel, the question ought to be, why not?
What Does "Caught Up" Mean?
Being "Caught up" refers clearly to the "Resurrection" of all believers, past, present, and future, to be with the Lord.
Note the similarities between Jesus Christ's words and Paul's:
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live...Marvel not at this...all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life." (John 5:25-29)
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel...and the dead in Christ shall rise first. 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." (1 Thess 4:16-18)
What Paul said, by revelation from Christ, is that when the resurrection occurs, believers who are alive, will not need to die physically; instead, they will be instantly changed into incorruptible and glorified bodies prepared for them by God (see Phil 3:21).
It's that simple!
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